Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Numbers 11:4b-15; Matthew 14:13-21)
When a commodity becomes plentiful and cheap, people look
for more delectable alternatives. At one
time chicken was most families’ favorite dinner. They reserved it for Sunday dinner after
church to crown their day of leisure. Today, with mass (and often inhumane) poultry
farming, chicken has become a relatively inexpensive and somewhat prosaic
dinner. Families often prefer steak or
salmon for special occasions. In the
first reading something similar is brewing.
The Israelites have grown tired of the manna which they have
eaten every day for years. They seek out
Moses with the absurd complaint that they would have been better off in
Egypt. Moses then goes up to the Lord perplexed
about what to do. He knows that the
people should be grateful. At the same
time he realizes that they are still not holy, still not truly the Lord’s.
Holiness is a matter of being different. But the difference is not being individualistic. Rather holiness is going against the grain of
human pride to give oneself completely to God.
It is overcoming the tendency to see ourselves as entitled to things. It is recognizing everything that one has as
a blessing from God. Then it is a way of becoming a blessing to others.
