Isaiah 55.1-5

1 Ho, everyone who thirsts,
    come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
    and your labour for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
    and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
    listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
    my steadfast, sure love for David.
4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
    a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
    and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has glorified you.

 

REFLECTION

This prophecy offers a lot and some may say God has not given as the prophecy says. Those who are starving in the world and without water who are faithful. Where is God's blessings. In light of a God who I believe can do anything, I have struggled with the promises of care and defense of the poor, and weak, when, in the world, there is so much inequality, poverty, injustice and oppression. In a search to understand my faith and relationship with God, I have come to see the promises not as a worldly promise, but as a Spiritual promise. If my identity and provision are in the world, then those in the world have impact on it. If I see life as more than worldly things then I am nourished differently and provided for differently. It is like the woman at the well and the water Jesus offers and the food Jesus says he eats. I also think it is what Paul is talking about in his letter to the romans.

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Psalm 145.8-9; 145.14-21

8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate:

slow to anger and of great goodness.

9 The Lord is loving to every one of us:

and his mercy is over all his works.

14 The Lord upholds all those who stumble:

and raises up those that are bowed down.

15 The eyes of all look to you in hope:

and you give them their food in due season;

16 You open wide your hand:

and fill all things living with your bounteous gift.

17 The Lord is just in all his ways:

and faithful in all his dealings.

18 The Lord is near to all who call upon him:

to all who call upon him in truth.

19 He will fulfil the desire of those that fear him:

he will hear their cry, and save them.

20 The Lord preserves all those that love him:

but the wicked he will utterly destroy.

21 My mouth shall speak the praises of the Lord:

and let all flesh bless his holy name, for ever and ever.

 

 

Romans 9.1-16

1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit—
2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.
4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises;
5 to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
6 It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all Israelites truly belong to Israel,
7 and not all of Abraham’s children are his true descendants; but ‘It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named after you.’
8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants.
9 For this is what the promise said, ‘About this time I will return and Sarah shall have a son.’
10 Nor is that all; something similar happened to Rebecca when she had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor Isaac.
11 Even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose of election might continue,
12 not by works but by his call) she was told, ‘The elder shall serve the younger.’
13 As it is written,
‘I have loved Jacob,
    but I have hated Esau.’
14 What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!
15 For he says to Moses,
‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
    and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’
16 So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.

 

REFLECTION 

Paul looks at the law and the relationship between God and the Israelites. The worldly relationship belongs to the Israelites. All God has given was given to and through the Israelites, but in the end, it is the children of faith that are truly the descendants of Abraham and receives f the blessings. Even the children of Abraham and Isaac a test to that. It was by God's blessings that Sarah had a child, not by human ability. In the same way, though Esau was first born and by rights the receiver of the inheritance, it was given to Jacob. This was that those who understood would know the blessing is given by God through faith not worldly acts.

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Matthew 14.13-21

13 Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ 16 Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ 17 They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ 18 And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

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REFLECTION

There are two miracles of the feeding, and some believe they might be the same miracle used twice. It is possible, but I do not see the relevance of the comment. Does the number of times Jesus did it make the miracle better or worse? Does it make it more believable or less believable? Some only see it like a parable. A story with a message, Jesus/God gives generously. I want to look at the event through the ideas I have looked at in the first two readings. the blessing of God on the faithful. We may focus on Jesus' act, but what about those who were fed. We say they were fed because they were hungry, but they were fed because they were there and they were there because they believed. I do not want to take away from Jesus' miracles; I just want to acknowledge the faith of those who were there. If they had not been there, there would have been no need for a miracle. Faith leads us to do things that may not make sense and to see something outside of our world and physical needs. In this faithfulness God provides.

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