Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus had just heard that his cousin John was dead. He got in a boat and tried to find a quiet place to be alone. He didn't get there. The crowds followed him on foot around the lake, and when he stepped off the boat, they were already waiting.

What did he do? He was moved with pity. He healed the sick among them. And when it got late and the disciples said send them away to get food, Jesus said: there is no need. You give them food.

They had five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus took them, blessed them, broke them, gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. Five thousand men, plus women and children. Everyone ate. Twelve baskets of leftovers.

Isaiah had said this would happen: come to the water, come without paying. Why spend your money on what doesn't fill you? Come to me. Eat what is actually good.

Your family is hungry for something real. The table you set matters. The food you give each other - not just at dinner but in prayer and time and attention - is the offering Jesus can bless and multiply.

• For our family, that we would come to the real source of what fills us rather than spending ourselves on what doesn't satisfy, we pray to the Lord.
• For the children in our family, that they would know they are loved with a love nothing can take away - not anything hard, not any mistake, nothing, we pray to the Lord.
• For those in our family who are hungry for something they haven't been able to name, that today's invitation from Isaiah would reach them: come to the water, we pray to the Lord.
• That what we offer in our family - our time, our attention, our prayer together - would be placed in Jesus's hands to bless and multiply, we pray to the Lord.

At dinner tonight, hold one small piece of bread before you eat. Tell your children the story of the five loaves and two fish. Then pass the bread around and say: Jesus takes what little we give him and makes it more than enough. Ask each person: what small thing do you want to give Jesus this week for him to use?

Jesus was grieving when he fed the five thousand. He didn't wait until the grief had passed to give what was needed. You don't have to have it together to give your family what they need. Your small offering, blessed, is enough.