Day 262: Miracle Worker

Matthew 14:13-21 Christ’s miraculous feeding of the five thousand foreshadows the countless people who can receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. Even the words used-“blessed...broke...gave”-mirror those used by him at the last Supper (Mt 26:26). The crowd, who received the loaves from the Apostles, represents the new People of God, who receive the Eucharist from the successors of the Apostles. (CCC 1329, 1335)

Ch 14:22-33 An image of the Church is the boat of Peter on the rough seas. Despite the many obstacles and struggles, the lord’s help and protection will never be lacking. Christ’s Church will never be overcome. 

Lord: This address indicates deep trust and respect. It may also signify recognition of Christ’s divinity. (CCC 447-500)

Ch 14:23 By his example, Christ taught his followers the value of personal prayer. (CCC 2740)

Ch 14:33 Son of God: This is the first instance in Matthew that Christ was addressed as the Son of God by his Apostles. (CCC 454)

Ch 14:36 The fringe of his garment: While Christ normally worked miracles through his personal touch, many were healed by merely touching his garments. These verses implicitly show the value of holy relics and of their veneration. (CCC 1674)

Ch 15:1-20 Christ again emphasized that what is in the heart of the human person counts for more than mere lip service to the Torah. The New Law does not abrogate the Old but perfects and fulfills it. Our external fulfillment of the Law must be motivated and accompanied by a good disposition of the heart, the source of all human action. (CCC 1853, 1968, 2517)

Ch 15:3-7 Tradition: Christ was not teaching that we should disregard Traditions of divine origin (i.e., Sacred Tradition derived from Christ or his Apostles; cf. 2 Thes 2:15). In fact, the first generation of Christians did not have a written New Testament and were specifically instructed by the Apostles to hold fast to the traditions they had been given. Rather, Christ was dismissing those traditions invented by men (“your traditions”) that were contrary to the spirit of the Commandments of God. (CCC 579)

Ch 15:21-28 Son of David: Some Gentiles, such as the Canaanite woman, also looked forward to the Messiah promised to the Jews. The woman’s persistence serves as an example of how we must pray even if our prayers do not seem to be answered immediately or even if followed by more suffering. As with the Roman centurion (cf. Mt 8:10), Christ admired and acted upon the great faith of the Canaanite woman. (CCC 439, 448, 2610)

Ch 15:32-39 Like his earlier miraculous feeding of the crowd (cf. Mt 14:13-21), this miracle used Eucharistic language, prefiguring the Sacrament he would institute at the Last Supper. (CCC 1329, 1335)

Ch 16:1-4 The Pharisees and Sadducees asked for a sign, as if his many miracles performed already were not enough. Christ refused them because they had not bothered to consider the signs already given. The only sign he would give, i.e., the sign of Jonah, would be his Resurrection after three days in the tomb. See commentary on Matthew 12:39-40. A recurring exhortation is that we must do good and keep the law without seeking praise or admiration from others. (CCC 1968-1969)

Ch 16:16-17 Simon Peter was the first of the Apostles in Matthew to acknowledge verbally that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God-an indispensable truth of the faith revealed to him by the Father through the Holy Spirit. (CCC 50, 153, 298, 424, 440-442)

Ch 16:18 Christ changed Simon’s name to Peter, “rock,” and established him as the rock upon which his Church would be built. Peter was thus preeminent among the Twelve Apostles and was given a unique mission. He would guard the authentic teachings of Christ, serve as a focal point of unity, and be a shepherd for the Apostles and the entire Church. This special call of Peter is the origin of the Petrine ministry, the papal office, which continues in the Bishop of Rome in an unbroken line to our own day. A bishop's authority in his diocese is represented by his chair (in Latin, cathedra). (CCC 552-553, 816, 834, 881 935-937)

Ch 16:19 Keys to the kingdom of heaven: These “keys” represent the authority given to Peter to govern the Church and include the power to absolve sins and to make doctrinal as well as disciplinary pronouncements. Peter and his successors, the Bishops of Rome, are thus the sign of unity for the entire Church. The Church has always understood this authority to be handed down to the successors of Peter, the Popes, and this guarantee of truth is reinforced in the dogma of papal infallibility in matters of faith and morals solemnly defined in the First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican in 1870. (CCC 85-86, 567, 869, 1444)

Ch 16:21-23 After Peter’s acknowledgement that Jesus is the Messiah, Christ revealed that his mission of redemption included terrible suffering, death, and resurrection. This is the first of three so-called Passion predictions (the other two: cf. Mt 17:22-23; 20:17-19). When Peter resisted this revelation, Christ leveled his severest rebuke, associating Peter with Satan, who also tempted him (cf. Mt 4:1). Christ’s message is that there can be no redemption without the Cross. (CCC 440, 540, 554, 607)

Ch 16:24-26 Deny himself and take up his cross and follow me: To become a true disciple of Christ requires a commitment to loving sacrifice in the form of self-denial and a willingness to accept suffering out of love for Christ. A prayer of St. Nicholas of Flue states: “My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you; my Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you; my Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.” (CCC 618, 2029, 2232)

Ch 16:27-28 Who will not taste death...kingdom: Christ did not mean that some Apostles would still be alive at the time of his Second Coming. This statement may have been fulfilled in the Transfiguration, which occurs in the very next passage (cf. 17:1-9); it may also refer to his Resurrection and Ascension; finally, it may foretell the destruction of the Temple by the Romans, which was to be a sign of the judgment that accompanied the arrival of the Kingdom of God. (CCC 1038)

Ch 17:1-8 The Transfiguration reflects Christ’s divinity in an extraordinary way. Just as at his Baptism, the voice of his Father was heard calling Christ his “beloved Son.” Moses and Elijah both encountered God on a holy mountain, Mt. Sinai and Mt. Horeb respectively, and represent the Law and the prophets; Christ at the center of the three indicates that he is the center of all Revelation. (CCC 444, 454)

Ch 17:10-13 John the Baptist was the herald of the coming of Christ. In this sense, John was Elijah, the Old Testament prophet who was assumed bodily into Heaven (cf. 2 Kgs 2:11) and had long been rumored to return in order to announce the imminent arrival of the Redeemer. (CC 718)

Ch 17:14-20 The disciples’ faith was too weak to cure the epileptic boy. Lack of faith can limit the effectiveness of our prayers. (CCC 2752-2756)

Ch 17:20 Other ancient authorities add, “But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting,” as verse 21.

Ch 17:23 Christ again told the Apostles of his coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection; their “distress” was an indication that they still did not understand that it was essential to his mission of salvation. (CCC 554)

Ch 17:24-27 Christ taught his disciples that God’s children have the liberty of access to him; knowing that the uninstructed would view the refusal to pay the Temple tax as impiety, he permitted the tax to be paid. (CCC 586)

Proverbs 19:9 All dishonesty and deception is forbidden by the Eighth Commandment, but a lie takes on a particular gravity when spoken under oath in a court of law. False witness and perjury not only are an insult to God but also could lead to serious harm imparted on an innocent person or a failure in the just punishment of a guilty party. (CCC 2476)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• GOSH!

• We are basically halfway into The Gospel of Matthew!

• We have the death of John the Baptist

• IT IS REMARKABLE!!

• Yesterday we had The Parable of the Sower

• There are some people who hear the Word and they like it, it springs up really quickly

• There are others who hear the word and they like it, but they have worldly anxieties and other things that choke the word

• Herod is kind of the incarnation of these things

• So Herod hated the fact that John the Baptist convicted him of his sin

• AND YET…

• He liked listening to John the Baptist 

• He wanted to kill him

• But at the same time, he was COMPELLED by him

• He was STUCK in this place of SIN

• THAT CAN BE SO MANY OF US!!

• We HATE the fact that here we are, sinning

• And we just can’t take that step to FREE OURSELVES

• We just can’t take that step to ALLOW THE LORD TO FREE US

• Here is Herod and it ends in the tragedy of the death of John the Baptist

• Even worse, it ends with the tragedy of Herod’s own life ending

• Moving on, we have two different feedings of the multitudes

• The Feeding of the Five Thousand with 12 wicker baskets of leftovers (To be made into a casserole, I imagine 😋😋😋)

• The Feeding of the Four Thousand with 7 wicker baskets of leftovers (To be made into bread pudding is my guess 🤔)

• One thing we need to say is that Jesus is doing miracles ALL OVER THE PLACE

• HE IS HEALING PEOPLE

• HE IS CASTING OUT DEMONS

• THIS IS REMARKABLE!

• HE IS ALSO FEEDING PEOPLE!!

• Remember how Jesus is the prophet Elisha

• BOTH OF THESE PEOPLE FED MULTITUDES WITH A LIMITED AMOUNT OF FOOD

• In those stories of Elijah and Elisha, these are not stories of sharing

• If you ever hear the miracle of the feeding the 5,000 or the feeding of the 4,000, when the little boy in the other Gospel was willing to give his 5 loaves and 2 fish and then the remaining people felt compelled to share their own food too, if you ever hear anyone interpret it like that...THEY ARE WRONG

• IT IS COMPLETELY WRONG

• It is a nice idea

• BUT…

• THAT IS NOT THE POINT, THAT JESUS INSPIRES PEOPLE TO SHARE

• NO!!!

• The point is that Jesus is the FULFILLMENT of the prophets of old

• GOSH YOU GUYS!!

• Not only that, Jesus is the TRUE SON OF GOD 

• WHO HAS POWER OVER MATTER

• WHO HAS POWER OVER LIFE

• WHO HAS POWER OVER EVERYTHING

• AND HE CAN MULTIPLY THIS FOOD!!

• THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!!

• It is a nice little idea that Jesus teaches people how to share

• He taught me how to share

• So did my mom and dad

• BUT…

• My mom and dad ARE NOT God

• JESUS IS GOD!!

• There is nothing more infuriating than when people want to ROB Jesu of his DIVINITY by saying this piece was a “miracle of sharing”

• SIGH!!

• SOAPBOX DONE!!

• LET’S MOVE ON!!

• So we not only have Jesus MIRACULOUSLY feeding 5,000

• HE ALSO WALKS ON THE SEA!!

• But you know, there was a sandbar underneath where he was walking so it wasn’t really a miracle 🤪

• Or he was just swimming, you know….🤪

• JUST KIDDING!!

• DONE WITH THE SARCASM!!

• So Jesus walking on water WAS A MIRACLE

• We love how Matthew recounts this in the Gospel

• THE WIND WAS AGAINST THEM

• THE WAVES WERE AGAINST THEM

• WHEN THEY SAW JESUS, THEY THOUGHT IT WAS A GHOST AND CRIED OUT IN FEAR

• BUT…

• IMMEDIATELY JESUS SPEAKS TO THEM IN A PLACE OF FEAR!!

• IMMEDIATELY JESUS SPEAKS TO THEM IN A PLACE WHERE THEY COULD DIE!!

• People die in the Sea of Galilee all the time in these types of storms

• Jesus says to them, “TAKE HEART. IT IS I. HAVE NO FEAR.”

• Into those places in our lives where we are afraid FOR A GREAT REASON

• Sometimes we are not just afraid

• BUT…

• We are sometimes tempted to be FRUSTRATED WITH GOD

• The reason why they were out in the storm in the middle of the night was because Jesus told them to get into the boat and go out onto the lake

• So you could imagine people being a little resentful

• “The only reason I’m out in a storm right now is because Jesus told me to go out into the storm. So now I’m not only afraid. I’m also maybe angry.”

• Jesus says, “TAKE HEART. IT IS I. HAVE NO FEAR.”

• Simon Peter says, “Lord if it is you, command me to walk on the water with you, like you do it.”

• THIS IS REALLY INCREDIBLE!!

• Jeff Cavins has made this point SO MANY TIMES

• A lot of times when we follow Jesus as Christians we think that means that I BELIEVE in Jesus

• IT DOES MEAN THAT

• We think that it means I THINK like Jesus

• IT DOES MEAN THAT

• BUT…

• It also means that WE ARE CALLED TO DO WHAT JESUS DOES

• So here is Simon who says, “Lord, if you are the Rabbi and I am the student, if you are the teacher and I am the disciple, and the goal is for the disciple is to be able to do what the Rabbi does, then command me to come out to you on the water. Is that true? Or is it just like ‘No it’s you and we are just surrounding you and that’s all this is?’”

• And Jesus says, “Come!”

• WHICH IS AMAZING!!

• Jesus doesn’t say, “Are you kidding me, Simon? In a second I’m going to name you ‘Rock’ and rocks don’t walk on water!” 🤣

• Jesus says, “Come!”

• Simon does THE IMPOSSIBLE, FOR A MOMENT

• Yes he sinks

• Yes Jesus rebukes him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

• BUT…

• THERE WAS A MOMENT THERE WHEN SIMON PETER WAS WALKING ON WATER!!

• WHEN HE WAS DOING SOMETHING IMPOSSIBLE!!

• THIS IS WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO!!

• WHEN WE ARE FOLLOWING AFTER JESUS, WE ARE CALLED TO NOT SIMPLY DO WHAT WE CAN ALREADY DO ON OUR OWN POWER

• WE ARE CALLED TO DO WHAT WE CAN NEVER DO ON OUR OWN POWER!!

• WE ARE CALLED TO LOVE IN A WAY THAT WE CAN NEVER LOVE IF IT WAS JUST US!!

• WE ARE CALLED TO LIVE IN A WAY THAT WE CAN NEVER LIVE IF IT WAS JUST US!!

• THIS IS JUST REMARKABLE!!

• Matthew Ch 15 is The Tradition of the Elders

• It is such an important thing

• Matthew 15:2, “Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.”

• One of the things that happened was the command of the Law of Moses was that you would purify yourself before you made your offering in the Temple

• So the Pharisees were not trying to be bad guys

• They basically said, “Well that’s good. If it’s good that we purify ourselves when we enter the Temple, then why don’t we just purify ourselves all the time? Like when we eat food, when we go to bed, when we get up in the morning?”

• So they were trying to extend the GOOD THINGS of the Temple into the rest of their life

• THIS IS A GOOD THING

• BUT…

• They also ADDED some things that were meant to be OPTIONAL that they did instead of doing what was ESSENTIAL

• So one of the things was, “Ok if I take my money and I dedicate it to God, then now that money is set aside for God. I get to use it however I want (which is completely backwards) rather than taking care of my parents.”

• And we know that the Fourth Commandment is Honoring our Father and Mother

• They were trying to avoid the ESSENTIAL commandment, taking care of their parents, by electing to do this OPTIONAL counsel of dedicating one’s property to God

• So many of us are tempted to do this

• I WILL DO EVERYTHING BUT…

• I WILL DO EVERYTHING BUT WHAT GOD IS ASKING ME TO DO

• WE CAN FALL INTO THAT TRAP

• In Matthew Ch 16 we see Jesus going up to Caesarea Philippi

• We talked about this before when we were going through The Book of Isaiah

• Jesus leads the disciples to Caesarea Philippi which is about 29 miles north of Capernaum, where they were living

• So they were going on this 29 mile hike north, so that means they were going uphill too…(Dad joke here...I don’t get it but that’s probably because I’m not a dad 🤪)

• So they get to Caesarea Philippi

• If you ever go there, in the Holy Land, one of the things you realize is that Caesarea Philippi has this incredibly massive rock

• It’s like massive cliffs, hundreds of feet tall

• Built into this rock are churches, essentially temples

• Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?”

• Simon says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

• Jesus responds, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona (son of Jona)! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter (Rock), and on this rock I will build my Church.”

• THIS IS REMARKABLE!!

• Jesus did not have POWERPOINT so he had to walk all the way up to Caesarea Philippi to give this POWERFUL TEACHING 

• “Yes, that is correct. And now you, Simon, are now ROCK, or CEPHAS, or PETER, and just like you see behind me, there are churches built into THIS rock. I will build MY CHURCH and the Gates of Hell will not prevail against it.”

• We have talked about this being the case for the Role of the Pope

• We talked about this when we read Isaiah (Do you remember when? Go back and read Day 201: Keys to the Kingdom for a review of what we have learned before 😁)

• The Al Habayit

• “I will give you the keys. What you open, none shall shut. What you shut, none shall open.”

• The Gates of Hell, or the Gates of Hades in our translation, WILL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT

• That means that Hell WILL NOT DESTROY THE CHURCH

• EVEN IF THE CHURCH GETS REALLY BAD HELL CANNOT POSSIBLY DESTROY THE CHURCH

• BUT…

• THAT IS NOT WHAT JESUS IS SAYING!!

• Jesus is saying, “The Gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

• Which means not that the Gates of Hades are ATTACKING the Church!

• BUT…

• The Gates of Hades will not be able to PREVENT THE CHURCH FROM OVERTAKING HELL!!

• WILL NOT PREVENT GOD’S POWER, HIS KINGDOM ON EARTH, FROM DESTROYING THE KINGDOM OF THE EVIL ONE WITH HIS POWER!!

• IT’S INCREDIBLE!!!

• IT IS NOT A DEFENSIVE POSITION!!

• IT IS AN OFFENSIVE POSITION!!

• WHICH IS INCREDIBLE!!

• You and I have been brought into THIS CHURCH

• You and I have been made MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST

• You and I have been made SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF OUR FATHER

• AND SO…

• Yes, there is this DEFENSIVE PROMISE that GOD IS WITH US

• GOD IS FOR US

• GOD LOVES US

• GOD CARES FOR US

• BUT…

• There is this OFFENSIVE POSTURE that we have

• Where does GOD’S LIGHT need to be shined?

• Where does GOD’S GRACE need to be revealed?

• Where does GOD’S HOPE need to be proclaimed?

• Where does GOD’S LOVE need to be brought?

• Because there are A LOT of places WITHOUT LOVE in our world

• Because there are A LOT of places WITHOUT HOPE in our world

• Because there are A LOT of places WITHOUT LIGHT in our world

• So if we, THE MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH, are meant to be on the OFFENSIVE where the Gates of Hell cannot prevail against it…

• Where can you and I bring LIGHT today where there is NO LIGHT?

• Where can you and I bring HOPE today where there is NO HOPE?

• Where can you and I bring LOVE today where there is NO LOVE?

• THAT COULD BE IN THE LIFE OF THE PERSON SITTING NEXT TO US

• THAT COULD BE IN THE LIFE OF THE PERSON DOWN THE HALLWAY FROM US

• THAT COULD BE SOMEONE NOT JUST IN ANOTHER TOWN, ANOTHER STATE, OR ANOTHER COUNTRY

• IT COULD BE A PERSON UNDER THE SAME ROOF AS ME

• THAT IS SOMETHING TO PRAY ABOUT

• OK YOU GUYS!!

• Here we are at the end of Day 262

• WHAT A GIFT!!

• FR. MIKE IS PRAYING FOR YOU!!

• PRAY FOR FR. MIKE

• PRAY FOR EACH OTHER

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you thanks. We praise you and glorify your name. Lord God, we ask that this day that you receive our thanks, that you receive our praise, that you receive our thanksgiving because every good gift comes from you. Every good thing we have in our life comes from you and we thank you. Please, please Lord God, receive our praise. Receive our thanksgiving in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”