Daily Gospel Reflection
Join the Notre Dame family of faith. Receive God’s Word and a unique reflection in your inbox each day.
January 4, 2022
When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.
By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said,
“This is a deserted place and it is already very late.
Dismiss them so that they can go
to the surrounding farms and villages
and buy themselves something to eat.”
He said to them in reply,
“Give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him,
“Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food
and give it to them to eat?”
He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”
And when they had found out they said,
“Five loaves and two fish.”
So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass.
The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties.
Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples
to set before the people;
he also divided the two fish among them all.
They all ate and were satisfied.
And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments
and what was left of the fish.
Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.
For many of us, this gospel passage is familiar and perhaps easy to gloss over. The Church invites us to ponder these miraculous feedings frequently, in part, because all four evangelists tell us of Jesus providing for his hungry followers. But let’s continue by reading Mark’s account carefully. What does the Holy Spirit have to say through Mark in this passage?
Mark first notes how Jesus looks at his people. Jesus looks on us with pity, like sheep without a shepherd. This can be uncomfortable for us to read. I don’t like to think of myself as pitiable, yet so I am. I don’t want to be compared to a common herd animal, yet so I am. Jesus longs to be our shepherd; that with the docility of sheep, we might learn from him and be sustained.
Mark then shows us through the disciples’ words that they were in a deserted place without food. How often do we come to Jesus with the same complaint? “My Jesus, this is too much; I don’t have enough for those around me.” Jesus asks us for what we have, nothing more or less.
Here, Mark reveals Jesus as imaged in the psalms. “He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the waters of rest” (Ps 23:2). Then, in the breaking of the bread and dividing of the fish, Jesus gives with an open hand and “satisfies the desire of every living thing” (Ps 145:16).
In summary, my brothers and sisters, know that Jesus looks upon us, even in the most deserted places of our lives, asking that we entrust ourselves to him so that he can lead us into the abundance that he desires for each one of us.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we offer ourselves to you in the hope that, as your Son once multiplied loaves and fishes, you might convert our weakness into strength, our trepidation into courage. You have often called people to tasks they find daunting or beyond their ability. With the same grace you supply the saints, help us to respond fully to the call of discipleship, regardless where it takes us. Dispel the complacency, doubt, or fear in our hearts. Fill us with the love and zeal that alone can nourish us, so that we may help nourish those around us who hunger and thirst. Give us the passion for ministry you instilled in Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton; make us true followers of Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized.
Born Elizabeth Bayley, today's saint was born in 1774 and came of age with our young nation during the tumultuous years of the American Revolution. The Bayley's were part of New York City high society, and Elizabeth was raised with all the comforts of a young heiress. In 1794, Elizabeth married a wealthy man named William Seton and their first years were full of happiness. The memory of that happiness would remain with Elizabeth in the hard years ahead.
William’s father suddenly died, and the young couple took on the care of William’s seven brothers and sisters. Soon after, William’s business failed and he contracted tuberculosis. In a desperate move to save William, they sailed to Italy for a warmer climate, where William had business partners, but he died there.
Elizabeth had a life-long love of Scripture, and the Word of God sustained her in these difficult years of her early widowhood. It was during her time in Italy that she awakened to Catholicism—especially the Eucharist—and she began taking instruction in the faith there. In 1805 she joined the Church, alienating many of her Episcopalian family members.
To support her family as a widow, and to provide for the education of her five small children, Elizabeth opened a school. At the invitation of Archbishop John Carroll and with the help of two other women, she opened a school in Maryland, one of the first free Catholic schools in America.
The small community was known as the Sisters of Charity and they adopted a common rule of life, which made an allowance for Elizabeth to continue to raise her children. Over time, the community would grow to six groups of nuns and grew rapidly, establishing many other orphanages and schools throughout the United States.
Elizabeth herself contracted tuberculosis but continued to guide her five children through her illness. She died at the age of 46 in 1821, after only sixteen years as a Catholic. Elizabeth was canonized in 1975 by Pope Paul VI, the first native-born United States citizen to be canonized.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is the patron saint of widows, the state of Maryland, and of Catholic Schools. A statue of St. Elizabeth sits in the Knott Hall Chapel on Notre Dame's campus. The Notre Dame Archives in the Hesburgh Library collects and maintains records that document the life of the Catholic Church and her people as lived in the American context—which includes material from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, patron saint of Catholic schools in the United States—pray for us!