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b'(Is.55:1-3;\\xa0\\xa0 Ps.145:8-9,15-18;\\xa0\\xa0 Rm.8:35,37-39;\\xa0\\xa0 Mt.14:13-21) \\xa0 \\u201cThe eyes of all look hopefully to you, and you give them their food in due season.\\u201d \\xa0 And the song of David, and the prophecy of Isaiah, are fulfilled in Jesus and the heavenly banquet He sets before us this day.\\xa0 For the Lord \\u201copen[s] His hand and satisf[ies] the desire of every living thing\\u201d; \\u201cwithout paying and without cost\\u201d all come to His table to eat. \\u201cYou who have no money, come, receive grain and eat.\\u201d\\xa0 The \\u201crich fare\\u201d the Lord provides cannot be bought with money, for the earthly food \\u201cfails to satisfy.\\u201d\\xa0 Only that paid for by the blood of the Son gives life; in His sacrifice we find \\u201cthe everlasting covenant,\\u201d the union with God and with His love which all our souls desire.\\xa0 And we know, as Paul testifies, that nothing \\u201cwill be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.\\u201d Does Jesus not give witness to the love of God today?\\xa0 Does He not show that \\u201cthe Lord is good to all and compassionate toward all His works\\u201d?\\xa0 For though \\u201cHe withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by Himself,\\u201d though He sought to be alone with His Father in prayer, when followed by the crowds He took pity and \\u201ccured their sick.\\u201d\\xa0 And though He had been with them all the day and evening drew on, when the disciples urge Him to \\u201cdismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves,\\u201d Jesus responds: \\u201cThere is no need for them to go away; give them food yourselves.\\u201d\\xa0 And He feeds them, without cost and without discriminating between one and the next.\\xa0 All sit at His table today; and we are told that \\u201call ate and were satisfied.\\u201d\\xa0 And why not?\\xa0 For the bounty of the Lord is indeed the richest fare. Do we follow Jesus as diligently as these in the wilderness, brothers and sisters? \\xa0We know the food He provides us now every day.\\xa0 And we have been shown clearly that \\u201cthe Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.\\u201d\\xa0 Let us partake well of this feast set before us, which gives us now a foretaste of heaven.\\xa0 Freely let us come to Him, and be fed by His holy hand.\\xa0 And our expectant souls shall be forever satisfied, for His hand is always open. \\xa0 Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. \\xa0 Music: "The Whole Whale" (first third) from\\xa0The Whole Whale, eighth album of\\xa0Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. \\xa0 ******* O LORD, let our lives this day be in line with your will, united to the glory of your only Son. YHWH, let us not store up treasures for ourselves, but think rather of you and the salvation of others.\\xa0 All is indeed vanity if like Qoheleth we set our sights on what is on earth, if we are preoccupied by our possessions.\\xa0 For these shall rot with the lusts of the flesh and we shall die with them.\\xa0 But if we set our hearts on you and on the things that are above, where Christ is seated at your right hand, then we shall be blessed with life everlasting. Your Son calls us to glory with Him in Heaven.\\xa0 He warns us of the emptiness of this earth and the riches hereon.\\xa0 He would turn our eyes to you and away from all greed and selfishness.\\xa0 He alone can prosper the work of our hands, LORD, for without Him we pass like the changing grass and nothing comes of our days. O LORD, let us not labor in vain but with the wisdom that comes from above, that we might not come to great misfortune but to eternal life in your presence.\\xa0 Remake us in the image of your Son.'