Today the first reading sets us up nicely for the Gospel as we ascend the mountain where “the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples.” This line alone could be the source of my complete meditation as clearly there is abundant reference in the readings and gospel today to the Eucharist, the Lord of hosts, and the way that the Lord of Lords feeds us in this gift of love. The idea we also see referred to in the replenishment of the bread in the baskets in the Gospel also teaches how the Eucharist at each Mass, every day, is replenished, and in that, continually restores us, feeding us in his love.
Moreover, we can reflect on the continuous and restorative grace we receive over and over in the Eucharist at Adoration. Needless to say, these readings today are worth several rounds of Lectio Divina and what jumps out to you and what our Lord puts on your heart. They are truly beautiful and filled with uplifting words of encouragement and joy. As the psalm tells us, “I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”
Awesomeness in a Quiet Moment
Today I sit at Adoration and ask our Lord, “what do you want me to see? What do you want me to tell them about you in this Gospel?” As I wait for a response, I read it again and look at you, my Lord, and it strikes me to say, “YOU are this person in this story. YOU were there. What was it like? This isn’t just a story; it is your story.” It struck me that we often sit with others, some older who have gone before us, or people who experienced something or an event or place that we didn’t; we want to know firsthand, what was it like? We want to immerse ourselves in every detail, every person that was there, every conversation or happening, and we turn to the relative or friend, and say, “Tell me everything?!”
So, this is the process today that I employed with our Lord about this Gospel. “Lord, tell me about it. They placed the crippled at your feet that they must have carried all the way up that mountain to you, like a pilgrimage of today, and you cured them. What great faith they had to climb up to you with their loved ones or neighbors. You cured the blind and they glorified God in it. I was particularly struck by the word “amazed” (the crowd was amazed) in one version and in the Ignatius Bible, it is translated “wondered.” The crowds wondered at these miracles.
The Gift of Wonder
Lord, why does man forget this great joy you give us in this gift of wonder. Why do we so often rush and lose the sense of wonder that often fills us with your life? Tell me, what did their faces look like as they gazed up to you in wonder? They must have been so dear, for immediately after, upon seeing their expressions, you were moved by compassion and mercy for them and their physical needs. You began relating to them more intimately as a parent to a child. “They are hungry, we must feed them.” And you asked them to sit on the ground as you took care of them out of love for them. There was a connection, a relationship formed in them coming to you.
This is different from some of the other stories in the gospels when miracles you performed in the crowds were clearly about faith but not necessarily about relationships. Here, Lord, they come to you, and you respond tenderly, in a very particular way. “Tell me about it, Jesus, what happened? Put on my heart the details that are missing from the words here before me? You were there!”
As I sit with you Lord, I think, when do we allow ourselves to go beyond faith and trust and just be wowed by Him or all the jewels in this rich faith we have: the scripture, the mother He shares with us, the saints, the love and sacrifice He continually gives us by staying with us always in the Eucharist? Lord, we want to be in awe like the people in this gospel scene that sat down in front of you here.
Trust
Lord, they knew out of a meager portion, a few loaves, that you would feed them all. They looked into your eyes and saw your love. They sat down and gazed at you much like I am now here in adoration. There is a peace about this crowd different from the city crowds. “They came away with you,” much in the same way you retreat with your apostles often to be with your Father in prayer.
Lord, you are nourishing me now as you speak these words into my heart through the Holy Spirit to share with others. Thank you for loving me and all who read this meditation so well. I love that I can come and look into your face and ask you about any gospel, “what was it like Lord. It is you, the same person I am reading about. You were there. You are here now. Tell me about it. I will listen while I sit and gaze upon you in amazement and wonder.”
