THE WORD
Is 25: 6–10 / Mt 15: 29–37
Moving on from there Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, went up on the mountain, and sat down there. Great crowds came to him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them. The crowds were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the deformed made whole, the lame walking, and the blind able to see, and they glorified the God of Israel.
Jesus summoned his disciples and said, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they may collapse on the way.” The disciples said to him, “Where could we ever get enough bread in this deserted place to satisfy such a crowd?” Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” “Seven,” they replied, “and a few fish.” He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over—seven baskets full.
IN OTHER WORDS
It is said that women are from Venus and men are from Mars. They are located in two different worlds and far from each other. Thus, both have different qualities and personalities.
In the traditional Filipino culture, there are some practices that only women should do because, like rearing a baby, they are a “woman thing.” This holds true of some Filipino male practices, too. A Filipino man should not cry because only a woman does. While these are practices particular to the Filipino culture, there are also traits which are universally understood to be exclusively masculine or feminine. Masculine pertains to strength, power, and virility, while feminine denotes being soft, caring, and nurturing. These stereotypes imply an understanding that male and female are truly coming from two very different worlds.
However, in our gospel today, Jesus shows us something different. He was moved with pity, and showed concern for the crowd. These reveal his other side – the soft side. In the Jewish culture, being emotional was not acceptable for a man, it being associated to women. Man was expected to be “manly”. But Jesus deconstructed the socio-cultural framework of his time and taught that a male person can also be maawain at maalalahanin (merciful and concerned) without losing his masculinity. Jesus had his softer side revealed so that others might have life. Providing life requires one to be a caring and nurturing person, just like Jesus!
- Fr. Ross Heruela, SVD (DWST, Tagaytay City)
The Word in other words 2015
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
