“When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,

‘This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.’

Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off

to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.”

This is a beautiful gospel reading for today. It is filled with details, depth, and Eucharistic meaning. Some of these I have written about in prior reflections over the past eight years. Today, I was struck by the verses above. In brief, today’s reading is about God’s abundance: taking the small offering of a child and using it to satiate the hunger of the multitude. In the Eucharist, our small offering is used by God to satiate the hunger of the multitude, not just those who are gathered, but through our becoming what we receive (the body of Christ), the hunger of the multitude beyond our walls. Notice, though, that in this reading, the response of the people was the desire to “carry [Jesus] off to make him king.” This was not Jesus’s or the Father’s will, but Jesus still fed the hungry anyway. In other places, the desire would be to stone him, accuse him, condemn him, or kill him. Jesus always met the needs of the people anyway. Despite the response, Jesus did it anyway. 

It reminded me of a sort of poem I first read in A Simple Path compiled by Lucinda Vardey of Mother Teresa’s own words and insights. It is an easy and worthy read. The last page contains not the words of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, but the words of a sign that hung in a Missionaries of Charity children’s home in Calcutta. I’ll quote it here, in full:

Anyway

People are unreasonable, 

illogical, and self-centered, 

LOVE THEM ANYWAY 

If you do good, 

people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives, 

DO GOOD ANYWAY

If you are successful, 

you win false friends and true enemies, 

SUCCEED ANYWAY 

The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow, 

DO GOOD ANYWAY

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable, 

BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY 

What you spent years building 

may be destroyed overnight, 

BUILD ANYWAY

People really need help 

but may attack you if you help them, 

HELP PEOPLE ANYWAY 

Give the world the best you have 

and you’ll get kicked in the teeth, 

GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU’VE GOT ANYWAY