Book of Isaiah 55,1-3.
Thus says the LORD: All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk!
Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what fails to satisfy? Heed me, and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare.
Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life. I will renew with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits assured to David.
Psalms 145(144),8-9.15-16.17-18.
The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.
The eyes of all look hopefully to you,
and you give them their food in due season;
You open your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
Letter to the Romans 8,35.37-39.
What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 14,13-21.
When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.
When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.
When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, "This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves."
(Jesus) said to them, "There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves."
But they said to him, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have here."
Then he said, "Bring them here to me,"
and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over --twelve wicker baskets full.
Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
Saint Athanasius (295-373)
Bishop of Alexandria, Doctor of the Church
24th Festal letter for Easter
"A deserted place by himself"
Each of the saints had to flee the "broad and spacious way" (Mt 7:13) to dwell alone, apart, and there live a virtuous life: Elijah, Elisha (…), Jacob (…). Solitude and the forsaking of life’s tumult gains a man the friendship of God. Thus Abraham, when he left the land of the Chaldeans, was called “the friend of God” (Jas 2:23). The great Moses, too, when he left the land of Egypt (…) spoke with God face to face, was saved from the hands of his enemies and crossed the desert. All these are an image of our departure from shadows to wonderful light and of our ascending to the city that is in heaven (Hb 11:16), the prefiguration of true happiness and everlasting joy. Whereas we have with us the reality announced by shadows and symbols, I mean the Father’s own image, our Lord Jesus Christ (Col 2:17; 1:15). If we always receive him as our food and mark the doors of our souls with his blood, we shall be freed from Pharaoh’s labors and from his overseers (Ex 12:7; 5,6f) (…) Now we have found the road to pass from earth to heaven (…) In former times the Lord went before the children of Israel in a pillar of fire and a cloud; but now he calls us to himself, saying: “If anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink; from whoever believes in me will flow rivers of living water springing up to eternal life” (Jn 7:37f.). Therefore let everyone prepare themselves with ardent desire to go to this feast : let them listen to the Savior calling since it is he who comforts us all and each one in particular. Let anyone who is hungry come to him: he is the true bread (Jn 6:32). Let anyone who is thirsty come to him: he is the fountain of living water (Jn 4:10). Let the sick person come to him: he is the Word of God who heals the sick. If anyone is bowed down by the burden of sin and repents, let him take refuge at his feet: he is rest and the harbor of salvation. Let the sinner have confidence for he has said: “Come to me, you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28).