FOLLOW AND BE SATISFIED; SERVE AND BE COMFORTED

FOLLOW AND BE SATISFIED; SERVE AND BE COMFORTED

Jesus became so popular with His preaching and miracles that people followed Him even to a deserted place where food was not easily accessible. Jesus was moved with pity for His followers. It probably was not just pity for their impending hunger for food, but also for their spiritual hunger. Jesus obliged by multiplying the five loaves and two fish to feed more than five thousand people.

Whenever this story is told in the early Christian communities, they understood this as a foretaste of what is to come. They saw this as Jesus’ revelation of the abundance of heaven. The message is that, in heaven with the Father, there is no hunger, no thirst—everyone will be satisfied. We will all gather together in a big banquet hosted by God. It is a source of hope, especially for those who experience hunger and poverty in this world.

But let me cite another point in this Gospel. Matthew noted that after everyone ate and were satisfied, they “picked up the fragments left over,” which amounted to so many baskets. This is interesting. Why gather the leftovers? An exegete saw this as another expression of God’s love, particularly to those who serve the Lord. The fragments represent the servants who give everything in service to God, to the point of being broken and almost wasted. It is believed that God will gather those servants to Himself to be made whole again so they can serve again—that at the end of their service and their life, God will bring them to His fold and nurse them.

This serves as a good inspiration for all servants of God. There are times when we feel unappreciated, or worse, criticized and rejected in our service. But we ought not to feel alone and useless. God knows what we have done and He will pick us up like those leftovers and bring us to His care.

We must not forget that we have a loving God whose love never wanes nor ceases. Those who follow Him will be satisfied. Those who serve Him will be gathered and comforted. Fr. Benny Tuazon

---------- REFLECTION QUESTION ----------

Do you have any hunger that you want Jesus to satisfy? Surrender it to Him.

I trust in Your love, O God! I know You will satisfy and comfort me at all times. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ________________________