In today’s gospel, we hear the story of Jesus’s healing touch and the miracle of the fish and the loaves!
We see the multitude of Jesus’ compassion and unfailing love in this reading from Matthew. Jesus is sitting among the dregs of society; the lame, blind, deformed and mute. After curing those around him with these crippling ailments, Jesus called forward his disciples and asked if they’d be able to feed the crowd of people that had followed him to the coast of the Galilean Sea. Jesus wanted to feed the crowds so they could endure the journey home without collapsing and fainting. We see Jesus give thanks for the blessing of the food, broke the bread and passed it out to the crowd and the crowd was satisfied.
As Christ turned toward these people with compassion and love, so, too, does he lean into us with a loving embrace, still to this day.. There is not a single thought, word or deed we can do to turn God’s loving embrace away from us. We know nothing of the depths of the love Christ has for His people. God knows of all our needs; physical, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. He lovingly gives us opportunities to give and receive these blessings.
There is an old story that talks about a woman in the woods praying to God for a sign or a blessing for her life. So stressed and strained was this woman that God walked up to the woman and asked her what she was doing. She replies, “Please stop talking, I’m praying to God for a sign or a blessing in my life”. Let us not be so wrapped up in our tasks for the day that we shut out God’s desire to be in our lives.
Christ wants to heal you, to fill your bucket, to center you, to love you, to be with you in every waking moment of your life, on earth and in heaven. All he asks in return is to allow yourself to be open to His embrace.
