Nakabubusog po ba ang pananampalataya?

Nakakain po ba yang love of Christ na Yan? Nakabubusog po ba yang pananampalatayang iyan? Nakakain po ba yang simbahan na yan?

People today think this way because people have become pragmatic and overly practical. We cannot blame them because we are all going through hard times. Gutom tayo e. Mahirap ang buhay e.

Many business establishments have definitely closed and filed for bankruptcy because they were unable to reel from the effects of the Pandemics. In Tagaytay alone, many businesses have closed leaving many workers the loss of their income and livelihood. Kakapiranggot na nga yung kinikita, hindi na nga nakapag-ipon, mawawalan pa ng hanap-buhay; nagsara pa ang ikinabubuhay.

The stories of heartbreaking miseries today make us all pragmatic. The great sense of insecurity around us today makes us all practical and leads us to the loss of our faith in what is sacred. When we lose the faith in what is sacred, we start looking for bread alone and not the bread of life anymore. Ang kalam ng sikmura ay mas nadarama kaysa kalam ng kaluluwa.

In our Gospel for today, there was never a recorded pragmatic comment from anyone in the crowd. If they were only after for food or ang habul lang nila ay kung ano ang maipapakain sa kanila, I believe they would not have come on the first place. If they were not satisfied, they would not have followed, endured walking on foot, and endured listening to Jesus under the heat of the sun.

They came not for the sake of what they could take, but for what they could give. In giving what they have, they have received. Sa pagbabahagi, ay nakatanggap sila lalo.

Our first reading obviously is not talking about bodily provisions but of spiritual well-being. It says: Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life.

Here, Jesus is speaking to the poor and the rich alike.

Nakakabusog ba ang pakikinig kay Hesus? For these people, the answer is yes.

However, for the occasional believers, for the disengaged believers and skeptics, no.

Kailangang may pakain.

Kailangan may pabalut.

Kailangan bigyan kami ng simbahan.

Kailangan nakikita.

Pero kung ang isang tao ay nabusog sa salita ng Dios, bubuksan niya ang kanyang sisidlan, titignan niya kung ano ang pwedeng ibahagi at pwedeng itira sa kanyang sarili. And it turned out that everyone who came to follow and hear Jesus preach were satisfied by the words of Jesus; so much so that they opened wide what they have and shared to the community.

On that day, that was not just a crowd; it was a community.

What makes a community? What makes a Christian society?

1. The God’s Love. (His heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick)

2. The Generosity of one and the many. (“Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”)

3. The Gratefulness. (and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing,)

God empties us so we could trust in him again. God is bringing us into the most miserable and lowest of ebbs may be to demonstrate to us who we are without him.

To the pragmatic, Jesus is telling them “food does not come from bread alone but by the mouth of God.” But yes, in Jesus, we can eat the love of God.

To the Rich, he is telling them that “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” You are all placed in the position of power to help.

To the poor, he is telling them “bring them here to me.” Bring all what you have and we will bless it. Dalhin ninyo kahit kaunti, kahit kakapirnaggot, kahit aba. When God blesses our generosity, nothing is too small, nothing is too insignificant, nothing is too lowly.

Jesus is telling us all; especially those who are reeling from the the economic down turn due to the Pandemic:

1. Never let hard times make you bitter.

2. Never let pandemics and tribulations make you lose your faith because nothing separates us from the love of Christ. Let our love be as unconditional as such.

3. Oo, nakakain ang pag ibig ng Dios. Isang munting tinapay, kakaunti, kakapiranggot ngunit nakapagbibigay ng buhay.

---

FIRST READING

Is 55:1-3

Thus says the LORD:

All you who are thirsty,

   come to the water!

You who have no money,

   come, receive grain and eat;

Come, without paying and without cost,

   drink wine and milk!

Why spend your money for what is not bread;

   your wages for what fails to satisfy?

Heed me, and you shall eat well,

   you shall delight in rich fare.

Come to me heedfully,

   listen, that you may have life.

I will renew with you the everlasting covenant,

   the benefits assured to David.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Ps 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18

(cf. 16) The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

The LORD is gracious and merciful,

   slow to anger and of great kindness.

The LORD is good to all

   and compassionate toward all his works.

R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

The eyes of all look hopefully to you,

   and you give them their food in due season;

you open your hand

   and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

The LORD is just in all his ways

   and holy in all his works.

The LORD is near to all who call upon him,

   to all who call upon him in truth.

R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

SECOND READING

Rom 8:35, 37-39

Brothers and sisters:

What will separate us from the love of Christ?

Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine,

   or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?

No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly

   through him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,

   nor angels, nor principalities,

   nor present things, nor future things,

   nor powers, nor height, nor depth,

   nor any other creature will be able to separate us

   from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

GOSPEL

Mt 14:13-21

When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist,

   he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.

The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,

   his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.

When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said,

   “This is a deserted place and it is already late;

   dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages

   and buy food for themselves.”

Jesus said to them, “There is no need for them to go away;

   give them some food yourselves.”

But they said to him,

   “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”

Then he said, “Bring them here to me, ”

   and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.

Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven,

   he said the blessing, broke the loaves,

   and gave them to the disciples,

   who in turn gave them to the crowds.

They all ate and were satisfied,

   and they picked up the fragments left over—

   twelve wicker baskets full.

Those who ate were about five thousand men,

   not counting women and children.