The giver of every good and perfect gift has
called upon us to mimic His giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves.
― St. Nicholas of Myra How is God calling you to give of yourself this day?
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Isaiah 25:6-10a
Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 Matthew 15:29-37 Jesus reached the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and he went up into the
hills. He sat there, and large crowds came to him bringing the lame, the crippled, the blind, the dumb and many others; these they put down at his feet, and he cured them. The crowds were astonished to see the dumb speaking, the cripples whole again, the lame walking and the blind with their sight, and they praised the God of Israel.
But Jesus called his disciples to him and said, ‘I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me for three
days now and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them off hungry, they might collapse on the way.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Where could we get enough bread in this deserted place to feed such a crowd?’ Jesus said to them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ ‘Seven’ they said ‘and a few small fish.’ Then he instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves and the fish, and he gave thanks and broke them and handed them to the disciples, who gave them to the crowds.
They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected what was left of the scraps, seven baskets full.
Reflection on the Scriptures
Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Francis Xavier, a missionary himself and a founding member of the Society of Jesus. He left Europe shortly after the order was founded. His travels took him to the Far East,
where he dedicated himself to ministry in India, Malaysia, and Japan. By the time of his death, he was already envisioning broader opportunities to spread the Gospel throughout the Orient. Perhaps we can rethink our understanding of mission. Most of us will never be asked to journey to distant continents like St. Xavier or to preach in foreign lands.
Our vocation will likely unfold in the ordinary spaces where we already stand: our homes, workplaces, schools, and neighbourhoods. Yet these everyday places have their own “Tyre and Sidon moments” when we encounter people whose experiences differ from ours, or individuals who carry wounds we cannot see, or situations that invite courage, patience, and prayer. To be missionary in spirit is to imitate Christ’s willingness to go beyond the familiar, to reach out and serve a particular need. It is
believed that God’s love can flow through our words, actions, and even our silence. The question we can ask ourselves today is: how can we become living signs of God’s love to others? by Rev. Elvin
Cordosa, S.J.
The Imitation of Christ, Thomas A. Kempis https://amzn.to/40FrikB Paperback and Kindle versions available BOOK
ONE: Thoughts Helpful in the Life of a Soul
The Eleventh Chapter: Acquiring Peace and Zeal for Perfection
WE SHOULD enjoy much peace if we did
not concern ourselves with what others say and do, for these are no concern of ours. How can a person who meddles in affairs not his own, who seeks strange distractions, and who is little or seldom inwardly recollected, live long in peace? Blessed are the simple of heart for they shall enjoy peace in abundance.
Why were some of the saints so perfect and so given to
contemplation? Because they tried to mortify entirely in themselves all earthly desires, and thus they were able to attach themselves to God with all their heart and freely to concentrate their innermost thoughts. We are too occupied with our own whims and fancies, too taken up with passing things. Rarely do we completely conquer even one vice, and we are not inflamed with the
desire to improve ourselves day by day; hence, we remain cold and indifferent. If we mortified our bodies perfectly and allowed no distractions to enter our minds, we could appreciate divine things and experience something of heavenly contemplation.
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