MONDAY, EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
Memorial of Saint John Mary Vianney
Nm 11:4-15 Ps 81:12-17 Mt 14:13-21
THE WEIGHT OF MISSION RESPONSIBILITY
One’s love for a mission depends on vision and depth of involvement. A man whose company gave him life and success will devote himself entirely to its growth, seeing no distinction between its success and his own.
From the first reading we come to understand how the heart of Moses reflected the compassionate heart of God for His people. Although Moses speaks about God’s responsibility, we also notice that the cries of the people weigh down upon him, so that he cannot leave the people unattended. As a leader and guide of his people, he feels the same responsibility that God has for His people. Although he asks God, “Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing child’?”, he actually feels like a mother whose love toward her beloved children is uncompromised because she bore them all.
In the Gospel of today, we see a similar divine sensitivity of Jesus toward His people in the command, “You yourselves give them something to eat,” and then, in the feeding of the five thousand. You and I, as the disciples of Jesus, are called to put on the heart and mind of God and to experience the same weight that Jesus experienced for His people. Can my missionary zeal for the kingdom ignite within me the zeal and enthusiasm that Moses and Jesus had for their mission? The greater the intimacy one experiences with God, the greater will be his or her experience of the weight of the mission entrusted to him. Therefore, the weight of our mission responsibility is directly proportionate to the love and intimacy we enjoy in the company of our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. May we carry this weight with joy and zeal.
Response: Sing joyfully to God our strength.
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