Loaves & Fish: The Incarnation

The Gospel reading for the Daily Prayer of the Church is taken from the Gospel according to Matthew where we hear a familiar story:

After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Feeding the Four Thousand

Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?’ Jesus asked them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ They said, ‘Seven, and a few small fish.’ Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, he took the seven loaves and the fish; and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all of them ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children. After sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan. (Mt. 15:29-39).

 Jesus had compassion for the crowd, meaning that, Jesus suffered with the crowd (Latin: “cum passare”).  This passage highlights the incarnation, God one with us.  Jesus feeds the crowd because Jesus knows what it is like to be hungry.  God knows what you and I experience in and through the person of Jesus.

Sometimes we forget that Jesus, true God and true man, knows exactly what you and I experience.  For God so loved the world, that God became one with us. 

Let us pray: Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

This Friday at 6 P.M., we will bless all of those young men and women who will participate in the trip to Texas A&M from the Boys & Girls Club of Galveston.  This is a joint effort by St. Augustine’s and the Boys and Girls Club to encourage our youth to pursue a college education.  Thanks to Carol Freeman for her ministry in this regard.

Sunday, 24 November 2013, we will have our Thanksgiving Dinner at St. Augustine’s after the 9 A.M. service.

Please remember everyone on our Prayer List.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550