In this weekend’s Gospel, we initially get a view of the humanness of Jesus. The passage tells us that “when Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, He withdrew in a boat to a deserted place.” No doubt, He wanted to have some quiet time to grieve the passing of John and to give thanks for the work John did in “preparing the way for the coming of the Messiah.” All of us have experienced the death of loved ones in our lives. It is heart wrenching, but for those of us who are BELIEVERS in the Lord Jesus, we are confident that our loved one is now receiving the reward of their labors in building the Kingdom of God…eternal peace gazing upon the face of the Lord. Wow! Sit with that image for a while…it overwhelms me! While Jesus is praying, His disciples search Him out to tell Him that a crowd (thousands, perhaps) has come to see and listen to Him. You know this experience…you’re knee deep in a project and someone calls and needs your help immediately!!! What does Jesus do? He doesn’t say “tell them to go away, I’m busy” or “can’t you see that I am trying to carve out some time just for Myself!” No way! Rather, the Gospel says that, when Jesus saw the crowd, “His heart was moved with pity for them.” To be honest, I don’t like the translation of the word “pity” in this Gospel passage. “Pity” has kind of a negative connotation in our time. Think of this word instead… “Jesus was moved with compassion for them.” This is a wonderful example for us. Jesus is always “other-centered…He doesn’t dwell on His own needs or wants…He is always concerned about the needs of others. THIS is exactly what the devout and zealous Christian should be about…serving others. This Gospel passage goes on to describe a scene that we should be very familiar with…the feeding of the 5,000. You remember the story. Jesus is confronted by thousands of hungry people and, after checking, learns that there are only five loaves of bread and two fish among them. Not really enough to stock a buffet for this number! So…Jesus demonstrates God’s caring love for us by feeding the people, spiritually by his preaching and physically by the miraculous multiplication of bread and fish, with the cooperation of his apostles and the contribution of a boy. Talk about a miracle. This, no doubt, is a hint to us that we too can do wonderful things, even though we might not feel we have the gifts to pull something off. All we need to do is pray…and depend on the Lord to work through us. Quite a challenge! Learning of a poor Hindu family in Calcutta who had been starving for many days, Mother Teresa visited them and gave a parcel of rice to the mother of the family. She was surprised to see that the woman divided the rice into two equal portions and gave one to her Moslem neighbor. When Mother Teresa asked her why she had done such a sacrificial deed, the woman replied: “My family can manage with half of what you brought. My neighbor’s family is in greater need because they have several children who are starving." Today’s Gospel tells the story of a small boy who showed this same kind of generosity. By sharing his small lunch (which consisted of five slices of barley bread and two dried fish), he became the instrument of a miracle in Jesus’ hands. GOSPEL QUESTION FOR THE WEEK: Are you self-centered or other-centered?