August 4, 2025 // Memorial of Saint John Vianney, Priest
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21
Reflect on the Word //
I closed my eyes, breathed deeply, and prayed, Lord, I’m done. I can’t keep going. You’ve got to do something here. I’m running on empty! I opened my eyes. The March for Life pilgrimage group I was leading gazed back at me waiting for some direction. We were cold, tired, hungry, and in a sea of tens of thousands of other pro-lifers all making our way to the same metro station. It had been a long, numbingly cold three days, and we were ready to go home!
In today’s Gospel the disciples looked at the crowd, then at their empty hands, and went into panic mode. Lord, send these people away. We can’t feed them. We can’t fix this problem. Let’s just ignore it and let the people fend for themselves.
If the disciples were hoping for a dinner break themselves, they didn’t get it. The Lord called them to provide for the people from their poverty. In their exhaustion and panic the Lord called them to give more, even as He knew exactly how He was going to provide for their lack.
So often in our own lives we look at our empty hands and think it is all up to us. Or we try to ignore what the Lord is asking of us because of our perceived poverty. On that cold day in Washington, D.C., the Lord didn’t give me the grace of a miraculous surge of energy. He gave me the gift of knowing it was okay to ask for help—which I did, from my indefatigable co-chaperone—and we all made it home safe and sound.
The Lord always knows what He’s going to do. He knows each of us individually and how He plans to bring about His will in our lives and the lives of those we are called to love. When it feels like we’ve been abandoned or left to our own devices, He’s just waiting for us to come to Him and express our need. Even if we just come with a few fish and a loaf of bread, He knows just what to do!
Relate to the Lord // Are you running on empty? Offer the Lord your poverty and ask Him to provide for you today.
Sister Maria Fatima grew up in Rhode Island and entered the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in 2005. She holds a MA in Theology from the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity. Sister is in her eleventh year of enlightening middle school minds and drawing hearts to Jesus while teaching religion and history. She currently resides at the motherhouse in Ann Arbor, MI, having previously taught in Texas, Florida, and Ohio. She is a contributing author to our Lent devotional All She Had.
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