Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

This Sunday we celebrate the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The liturgical readings focus heavily on the boundless, compassionate generosity of God and His ability to turn human scarcity into absolute abundance. In our readings we hear about God’s boundless generosity and His enduring love. The gospel is an excellent example of the fact that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. We begin hearing about the death of John the Baptist. Jesus did not have much time to grieve this loss as there was work to be done.

The Gospel continues with the story of the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus heals the crowds and multiplies the five loaves and two fish to satisfy over 5,000 people. Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it and shared it. This action foreshadows the institution of the Eucharist.

As we take time to pray this day let us remember Jesus’ humanity – he understood the pain and suffering that comes from profound loss. Jesus reaches out with deep compassion. Perhaps this is our call today – to reach out to others with deep compassion.