Message of Abbot Paul - Wednesday 6th December 2023

Today, the feast of St Nicholas, we pray for all those who bear the name of this great Greek bishop, especially our own Fr Nicholas, now Abbot of Downside. St Nicholas passed to his eternal reward on this day in the year 343. There are so many traditions attached to him name and life. Do any of them touch you?

 

During the season of Advent, our Gospel readings come from all four Gospels and are always related to the first reading, invariably from one of the Old Testament prophets, especially Isaiah. Today is no exception. The reason why the disciples were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah is that he fulfilled before their very eyes the prophecies they read and studied each Sabbath in the synagogue. Today’s Gospel passage is a good example. Although it ends with the Feeding of the Five Thousand, only in this version no number is mentioned, it begins with a list of all the types of healing that took place when Jesus saw the crowds following him and was filled with compassion. We read In Matthew (Mt 15: 29-37), “Jesus reached the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and he went up into the hills. He sat there, and large crowds came to him bringing the lame, the crippled, the blind, the dumb and many others; these they put down at his feet, and he cured them. The crowds were astonished to see the dumb speaking, the cripples whole again, the lame walking and the blind with their sight, and they praised the God of Israel.” These miracles were proof for them that Jesus was truly the Messiah. The reaction of the crowd was one of astonishment and praise. How could they not thank God for what they had witnessed?

 

​However, Jesus goes further. He who is the Incarnation of Divine Mercy feels compassion for his people. He says to his disciples, “I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them off hungry, they might collapse on the way.” The Gospels always show us how deeply moved Jesus is at the suffering of the poor and infirm. Here it is the hunger of the crowd that moves him to compassion. He has healed their bodies and souls, but now he must feed them as well. Later on, at the Last Supper, Jesus will tell his disciples that he intends feeding them with his own Body and Blood. What is to be done in such a deserted place? How can they feed the crowd? All the disciples have been able to muster are seven loaves and a few small fish. With this meagre offering Jesus is able to feed the crowd. “Then he instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves and the fish, and he gave thanks and broke them and handed them to the disciples, who gave them to the crowds. They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected what was left of the scraps, seven baskets full.” Like the mustard seed or the leaven in the dough, God is able to work miracles if we but give of our own generous poverty. Like the widow’s mite, God blesses and multiplies the little we can give. You can’t help but notice how the prayer over the bread and fish, to transform them into God’s gracious bounty, are exactly those used by Jesus at the Last Supper and repeated each time we celebrate the Eucharist. They are also a model for our own prayer: God isn’t looking for perfection but a generous heart and a spirit of gratitude.