Wednesday – First Week of Advent

Gospel – Matthew 15:29-37

Food for the Soul

Dinner in Jerusalem

 

Well, our Thanksgiving leftovers are officially gone!  Last night we ate the last of the turkey, the mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, the stuffing and the cranberry sauce!  All gone!  It was a wonderful array of food and goodies but now it is all history!  But you know what isn’t gone?  The memory of us gathering together as a family (Ginger, me, Jaime, Josh and the boys) after such a tumultuous roller coaster year!  The laughter we shared!  The stories we shared!  The hopes and plans for the future! In fact, we carried that family celebration over into Sunday when we all went out for pizza (yum!) – and the stories and the laughter and the future plans continued! In fact, we have begun a new family tradition!  Once a month we all go out for dinner, each of us taking turns on picking the restaurant!  It is a wonderful new adventure.

The food is gone!   But the bonds remain; the family connections continue; the love and hope and faith increase!  In the end, isn’t that exactly what hopefully happens in today’s Gospel?  The crowd of people saw Jesus heal the lame and the blind and the deformed! For 3 days, they listened to His words of hope and comfort!  And then at the end of the day, their bodies were fed by the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

But what really remained?  What did they carry with them at the end of the day?  Full stomachs?  Or full hearts?  The taste of bread?  Or the hope of a Savior who feeds their soul?? 

What about us?  What did we carry with us on the day AFTER Thanksgiving? Memories of the meal?  Food for the body or food for the soul??

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