Coffee With God

Reflection: Matthew 15:29-37

The crisis we are living due to the pandemic has been affecting everyone; we will emerge from it for the better if we all seek the common good together. Concern for our neighbours and a generosity of heart has indeed saved thousands of lives from death. International agencies had predicted more people to die of hunger than of the sickness itself, which fortunately did not come true. Indeed the miracle of multiplication of bread or rather, the miracle of feeding the hungry not from the surplus but from the minimum of resources is a reality even on this day, in our times. But we would notice some discrepancies with the Gospel narrative. Matthew says, it was on a hill in Galilee that Jesus healed the lame, the maimed and the blind. We might wonder, was it not an awkward place for the sick people to reach Jesus? It must not have been easy for the lame and the blind to climb the hill! This makes one thing clear: For Matthew, the mountain location echoes the prophesy of Isaiah. In Chapter 35 we hear the Prophet saying the lame, the maimed, the blind and the dumb, and all peoples, would come to Mount Zion and God would feed the world at the coming of God’s kingdom. Through this narrative, Matthew intends to tell the reader that the Prophesy has its fulfilment in the person of Jesus, the Messiah. Matthew tells his community that Mount Zion and its temple are no longer the places where God resided, rather it is the risen Christ through whom we encounter God. Jesus is moved with compassion for the people who were exhausted and abandoned. Those people needed a message of hope and of life. And this is the message of Advent, that there is a future for everyone. We are not doomed to failure. Reconciliation, forgiveness, salvation, life is always possible. Even if society condemns us, even if friends abandon us, even if our businesses fail … comfort and healing are available. And God’s blessings are not rationed, but are given in abundance. Count the blessings we have received and realise that we have received them in abundance. The message is to be mindful of the needs of our neighbour and be moved with compassion. Do not turn away from the miseries of our neighbours, because God has placed them next to us, believing we would care for them. God needs us and he has placed his trust in us. Pope Francis reminds us not to become devotees of Pontius Pilate, washing our hands of others’ sufferings and pass by and go your own way.