They All Ate and Were Satisfied

December 5, 2007

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent

By Melanie “Grasshopper” Rigney

“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.” (Isaiah 25:2)

“You set a table before me as my enemies watch; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” (Psalms 23:5)

“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.” (Matthew 15:36-37)

Piety

Lord, feed my soul, and let me pick up the fragments left over to share with my brothers and sisters.

Study

Today's Readings

Chicken Soup for the Soul

Back in 1990, two accomplished motivational speakers decided the inspirational stories they used in their presentations and workshops would make a great book. Some 140 publishers disagreed. But the speakers didn’t despair. They knew there was something to their idea. They saw over and over again the audiences’ reaction to the stories, their own and those of friends and colleagues. One of the men explained the concept this way: his grandmother had always told him her chicken soup would cure any bodily ailment. He knew the book would have the same healing powers for the soul.

Finally, in 1992, a small publisher in Florida decided to take a chance on the men, and the first Chicken Soup for the Soul books came off the presses in June 1993. The Chicken Soup series now boasts more than 148 titles published in forty-five languages and more than 100 million copies sold for Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. In the publishing world, Jack and Mark are poster boys for sticking with a good idea, for not letting rejection discourage you from pursuing your dream. The passion and perseverance they exhibited can also be an example to us as Catholic Christians.

Being a Catholic can be tough. People misunderstand the role of saints in the Church. They think we’re a little weird because we believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. They don’t understand how papal infallibility works and think the pope controls our every move.

But amid the misunderstandings, our souls can be constantly fed—not by the inspirational stories of Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and their friends, but by the Lord himself. In the story of the loaves and fish, there were as many loaves left at the end as there were in the beginning—yet everyone was fed. In today’s first reading, Isaiah says the Lord promises for all people “a feast of rich food.”

If we but listen to what Jesus said—especially the two greatest Commandments, to love God with all our hearts and to love our neighbors as ourselves—we will always be fed spiritually. And there will always be room for us to bring along a friend to a table.

Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield believed through 140 rejections in two years that their stories would heal people’s souls, and their financial rewards are obvious. Imagine the reward we will receive by living our belief in Christ, who nourishes us through every rejection. Let His Love feed you.

Action

It can be hard to let Christ feed your soul when your stomach is empty. Today, make a financial or in-kind donation to an organization such as Our Daily Bread (www.our-daily-bread.org) in Fairfax County, the Arlington Food Assistance Center (www.afacinfo.org), or So Others Might Eat (SOME; www.some.org) in the District. Or, volunteer to help with food distribution or pickup. Or, give a grocery store gift card to your parish’s version of a Giving Tree for needy families. Watch these “loaves” multiply.