2026-08-02 Eighteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer

Lord Jesus,
You looked on the hungry crowd with compassion,
and where Your disciples saw only lack,
You saw an opportunity for grace.

Five loaves, two fish — so little,
yet in Your hands it became more than enough.
Teach us to bring You what we have,
however small it seems,
and to trust that You do not need our abundance,
only our willingness to offer it.

When we are tempted to hold back,
to say "it isn't enough,"
remind us that You multiply what is given in faith,
and that nothing offered to You is wasted.

Feed us, Lord, as You fed the crowd that day —
not only in body, but in spirit,
for we are often like that crowd:
hungry, unsettled, far from home,
searching for someone to teach us
and to satisfy the deeper hunger we carry.

Gather what remains of our scattered efforts, our broken pieces,
and let nothing be lost.
Make of our life, however small,
a gift that feeds others.

Amen.

Prayer for healing: Heavenly Father, we surrender our loved one and friends who are in need of healing to your loving care and miraculous healing. May the life-giving powers of your touch flow into every cell of their bodies and into the very depth of their souls, cleansing, purifying, and restoring them to wholeness and full life. Grant them the strength, courage, and patience to endure their suffering. Help them to accept God's will and to find peace in His love. At this time we lift up the following people: Eunice Kim, Iris Simon, Eloise Dutil, Don Mamayek, Janet Schaffer, Bernice Comfort, John and Buddy Fox, Abbi, Debbie, EJ, Gretchen, Bob and Aida Heller, Lynn, Patti Sharrow, Jill, George Horton ... whom else should we pray for ...

 

Sharing Practice of faith from last week

• What are the treasures in the field or the invaluable pearl in your life?
• If given the chance that Solomon had what would you have asked God for immediately 

 

Isaiah 55:1-3 

This passage from Isaiah speaks words of hope, likely to a people returning to Jerusalem. These verses, rich in imagery and tradition, communicate themes of divine invitation, renewal and restoration. God will provide water that will never make one thirsty, whereas pursuit of wealth and all labor towards world pursuits fails to satisfy. And it’s all free. God offers all of this “without money and without price”. We get what we don’t pay for. All we have to do is accept what God offers.

Isaiah 55:3–4 recalls the so-called Davidic covenant: that David’s house and descendants would rule in Jerusalem, which must have been puzzling to those returning from exile in Babylon because the destruction of the Holy Temple by Nebuchedenzar came with the downfall of the line of Davidic Kings. But we now know that these words came to fruition with our Lord, Saviour and Redeemer Jesus who was from the house of David. 
 

Psalm 145

Psalm 145 is a psalm of praise traditionally attributed to David, celebrating God's greatness, goodness, and faithfulness with declarations like "The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love"). It appears frequently in the Church's lectionary, often paired with Gospel passages about God's providence or the feeding of the hungry, reinforcing the psalm's themes of God's fidelity, mercy, and care for "all his works"

Pope Benedict XVI says
Psalm 145[144], is a joyful song of praise to the Lord who is exalted as a tender and loving King, concerned for all his creatures. The whole of humanity is called together to implement this plan in order that it comply with the divine saving will, a will that is extended to all "men", to "all generations", from "age to age". 
Psalm 145 is in fact the loftiest biblical prayer since it is the celebration of the works of salvation, which reveal the Lord's love for his creatures. 
God's "kingdom" does not consist of power and might, triumph and oppression, as unfortunately is often the case with earthly kingdoms; rather, it is the place where compassion, love, goodness, grace and justice are manifested, as the Psalmist repeats several times in the flow of verses full of praise. 
While our attention is usually being fixed on these beautiful words that portray to us a God who is "slow to anger" and "full of compassion", always ready to forgive and to help, we should also ponder the very beautiful verse 9 which follows:  "How good is the Lord to all, compassionate to all his creatures". These are words to meditate upon, words of consolation, a certainty that he brings to our lives. 
Source: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20060201.html
 

Romans 8:35-39

No matter how wondrous are the works of God, nothing surpasses his immense mercy. St Paul does not deny pain; he lists hard realities like tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, and the sword. But God does not respond to human violence and suffering with destructive retribution, but instead overwhelms it through the self-giving love of Christ. The final doxology (vv. 38–39) lists life, death, angels, rulers, the present, the future, and every other created thing

Matthew 14:13-21

I'd like to share with you Bishop Barron's reflection on this week’s Gospel reading. It tells the story of the feeding of the five thousand, which is the only miracle of Jesus (apart from his Resurrection) that all three Synoptics and John’s Gospel report. 

It starts with a very sombre tone with Jesus mourning the death of his cousin John the Baptist. But thousands of people seek him out in a deserted place - harkening back to God feeding the Jews as they wandered through the desert.
Jesus is teaching and healing ends with them staying late into the night. The disciples are tempted to send the people away - every man for himself - which is the voice of desolation and sin. 
Jesus however professes caring, compassion and togetherness. No breaking up of the group, instead look out for each other.
Jesus asks the Apostles to give them food themselves, which must have perplexing. A boy has only 2 fish and 5 loaves which he readily gives to the good of the many. - God used this to provided an abundance. We too need to offer to God our limited ability, time, resources and God will magnify our efforts. St Ignatius of Loyola, St Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa all started small but over time God blessed their efforts to change the world. So Jesus takes the bread, blesses God and multiples it. There is no indication that anyone in the crowd turned down the free food. In John’s account, the crowds caught up with Jesus the next day, and he asked them, “You are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (John 6:26-27a).

 

Practice of faith for this week

• What miracle small or big has the Lord worked in your life?
• The first reading invites those who are without to come and receive. What obligations do we have to others to do the same?

Closing Prayer

Lord Jesus,
as You once took five loaves and two fish
and made them enough for thousands,
take now what we have offered You this day —
our time, our attention, our small faith —
and let it be enough.

Send us from this place unafraid to give what little we have,
trusting that You provide the increase.
Keep us close to You, our Shepherd,
so that even when we are hungry or weary,
we remain in Your presence and are fed.

Bless us, and let nothing of this time together be wasted,
but gathered up for Your glory.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.