Our Lady Of Perpetual Help

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Reflection - Week of August 2

Question of the Week:

How can I feed others this week without discriminating, literally or figuratively?

     Easily overlooked in the account of the feeding of the multitudes is that no distinctions are made among the people in the crowd. No division is made between those who believed and those who just tagged along, between those who had plenty of food back home and those who often went hungry, between those who were Jewish and those who were not, between the disciples themselves and the crowd, or among men, women, and children: “they all ate and were satisfied” (Matthew 14:20). Jesus did not separate the people by religion or baptism or race or ethnicity or immigration status or criminality or age or gender or any other criteria, nor did he discriminate in any way. All were seated. All were served. All were satisfied.

     Jesus’ non-discriminatory generosity mirrors the Father’s abundant generosity, which is celebrated in the responsorial psalm. Jesus models that generosity every time he dines with a Roman collaborator (as tax collectors were stereotyped), forgives an adulterer, befriends a prostitute, or eats with sinners. After all, he was sent in order to save sinners. All sin￾ners. In fact, the first person to follow him into the kingdom of God was a criminal: the thief who was crucified alongside him.