LOOKING AT JESUS LOOKING AT US

The reading about the multiplication of the loaves re­veals a lot about Jesus and how he looks at us. Matthews says in the beginning, “When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he set out by boat for a secluded place” (Mat 14:13, NAB). The verse is significant as it tells the reason why Jesus left the crowds. John was his cousin and when he heard that he had been beheaded by Herod, he “went to a lonely place by himself” (GNB). He must have been saddened when he heard about the death of John, and he wanted to be alone with his dis­ciples, but the people followed him. And “he had compassion on them.” He forgot his own needs, his own sadness and “he healed their sick.” Paul in the second reading asks, “Who can separate us from the love of Christ?” (Rom 8:35). Nothing, not “trials or an­guish, or persecution, or hun­ger…” 

Even now, Jesus looks at us with compassion, looking to heal our wounds and satisfy our hunger. But we are also asked to do something: to go with him into a secluded place where he can heal us. The people walked for miles and endured hunger in order to listen to him. How far are we ready to go in search of Jesus and his miracles in our lives? We are all called to be like Jesus. How far are we willing to forget our own sadness and needs in order to listen to others with compassion? Perhaps it is in this willingness to forget ourselves that the miracle of Jesus in our own lives can be found.