"Are You Willing to Share Your Loaves with Christ?” (Matthew 15, 29-37).

My dear sisters  and brothers in Christ, we continue our journey of Advent, preparing to encounter the Lord who has come, and will come again. Today we also remember one of the Church’s greatest missionaries, Saint Francis Xavier, who heart burned with very fire of God’s love. As we meditate on today’s Gospel, let us pray that the Holy Spirit may inflame our own zeal and satisfy the deepest hunger in our souls.

To understand today’s Gospel passage, we must look at where Jesus is. He has just been on the borders of Tyre and Sidon where he healed the little daughter of the Phoenician woman. He then returns to the Sea of Galilee, climbs  a mountain (v. 29). The mountain in the Scripture is always a place of encounter, revelation, and transformation. It is a place where earth meets heaven.

Crowds come to Him. They bring their wounds and their burdens. They bring the blind, the lame, the mute, and many others. They come because they believe He can make their whole lives.

This helps us understand what Advent invites us to do. Jesus meets people where they are. He does not wait for a perfect setting. He goes to the peripheries. He enters into the messy, peripheral “mountain” of our lives. We don’t have to be clean first before running to Him. We simply need to show up with our brokenness.  He receives those who come with their pain. Saint Francis Xavier lived the same pattern. He left comfort behind, took Jesus to India, Japan, and the far East.  He went to those who had never heard the Gospel. He met people where they lived and trusted that Christ would work through small beginnings.

In today’s passage Jesus fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah. He heals the crowds. Their joy is great, and they praise the God of Israel. Jesus sees they have been with Him for three days and have nothing to eat. He feels deep compassion for them. His response shows the heart of God. God sees our hunger. God knows the needs that tire us apart. God chooses to act for our own good.

The disciples look at the situation and see only limits. They see a remote place, many people, and little food. They have forgotten what Jesus did before, the miracles he had performed in the past. We too fall into the same pattern. We look at our lives or our communities and see what is missing, difficulties, problem.  We pay attention to weakness, not to the presence of Christ. We easily forget the miracles God has done for us and others. We are like stuck with our present predicaments.

Jesus asks a simple question: “How many loaves do you have”?. They answer with seven loaves and a few fish. In the Bible, “seven represent” fullness. Jesus receives the seven loaves and few fish, and “gives thanks.” He recognizes God the Father as the author of all that is good, He thanked God the Father for all that He has been doing for Him and His people. Thus, Jesus teaches us the importance of gratitude. “Prayer of Thanksgiving is very powerful. It makes miracles happen. No wander why St Paul said that we should “Give thank in all circumstances. For this is the will of God for us in Christ Jesus.” (Cfr 1 Thessalonians 5:18). Jesus then breaks the bread.

His entire life is a life broken for us. We remember His teaching in John 6:35 “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” On the Cross of Calvary, Jesus gave it all. The breaking of bread, therefore, is highly spiritual act. The lamb that was slain on the Cross is the same that is offered to us in the Eucharist. Jesus gave to the crowd in anticipation of what He gives to us in the Eucharist. Everyone eats and is satisfied. Seven baskets remain. The number signals completeness and points to the reach of God’s grace beyond one group, beyond one people. God’s grace is always enough, abundant.

Saint Francis Xavier offered what he had. His health was fragile. His resources were few. He travelled long distance to share Jesus the bread of life to many in Asia. God used his offering.  His witness shaped generations.

Advent asks us to take the same step. Bring what you have to Christ. Bring your time, your strength, your hope, your wounded places, your areas of life that struggle to move. Bring your small gifts. Christ will receive and blesses them. Christ uses them for the good of others. He invites us to feed others with what we have. Generosity can never lead us to lack. So, how many loaves are we willing to share with Jesus today?

Let us prepare for the Lord with trust. Let us open our hearts to His compassion. Let us walk with the faith that marked Saint Francis Xavier. May Christ feed our hunger and make us instruments of His love. Amen.

 🙏🙏🙏