Homily For The 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Of The Year (A). August 2, 2026.

Sunday Readings

“Religion has nothing to do with compassion; it is our love for God that is the main thing because we have all been created for the sole purpose to love and being loved”. –St. Mother Teresa

My dearest friends in Christ,

God’s Free Gift of Grace: A Reflection on God’s Generosity, Compassion, and the Feeding of the Five Thousand

God Invites Us to His Banquet Without Cost

We have gathered once again to feed on the banquet of God’s eternal Word. God freely offers us His life-changing food at no cost. You may have been spending your money on things that do not truly satisfy. Today, God invites you to come, eat, and drink without cost.

I have observed that many people spend a great deal on counselling and yet show little or no lasting improvement because they refuse the counsel of God. The homilies preached in the Church are a rich source of spiritual counselling for every Christian who is open to embracing God’s Word. His Word brings about the transformation we seek, and it comes at no charge.

Today’s readings, my dear friends, especially the First Reading and the Gospel, remind us of God’s generosity and compassion—virtues we are called to imitate as Christians.

God’s Grace Is Freely Given

The Invitation of Isaiah Fulfilled in Christ

The First Reading, taken from Isaiah 55, is God’s invitation to come and eat without cost. This invitation is fulfilled in the Eucharistic Banquet, where Christ offers Himself—His Body and Blood—as the nourishing food of our souls. We often fail to appreciate this act of God’s generous self-giving because it is freely offered. He paid our debt with His Body on the Cross and now invites us to come and partake freely.

Many people assume that free things have little value, but this is certainly not true of God’s gifts. In Christ, salvation is free. Grace is freely given. The sacraments are freely offered. Some argue that the Church charges money for the reception of the sacraments, but this is a misunderstanding. Whatever one gives to the Church is merely a token of appreciation for what God has given, not a payment for what one receives. I have never seen a priest refuse anyone the sacraments because of money. God’s gifts are completely free. We cannot pay for the life He has given us, nor can we ever repay Him for His countless blessings.

Gratitude to God, who has given us everything without cost, should produce generosity in our hearts towards others. It should also bear the fruit of compassion for those who are suffering or burdened with sorrow.

The Compassion of Christ for the Hungry

A Heart Moved with Pity

In the Gospel, we see Christ demonstrate His compassion by feeding and healing the hungry crowds. The Gospel tells us, “When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, His heart was moved with pity for them.”

The word pity used here does not carry a negative meaning. People sometimes mock others by saying, “I pity your poor life.” That kind of pity is degrading and unsympathetic. Christ’s pity, however, means compassion. Webster’s Dictionary defines pity as sympathetic sorrow for someone who is suffering, distressed, or unhappy. Christ’s heart was filled with compassion because He knew the people had remained with Him all day in a deserted place where there was no food to buy.

I have often said that sensitivity to others’ needs is one of the greatest acts of generosity. I have heard people say to me, “I know you must be going through difficult times as a student. Keep doing your best. Soon everything will be well.” Wow! Those words meant more than money or any material gift. They meant that someone cared and was sensitive to my situation.

Greed and selfishness are among the greatest vices that blind the human heart from recognising the needs and suffering of others. Because our hearts are often filled with greed, many remain hungry, many remain poor, and many continue to suffer. If our leaders were compassionate to the needs of their people, our world would be a much better place.

Give God the Little You Have

As the disciples complained, we too often complain about insufficient resources: “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” They simply stated the obvious. In their minds, there was nothing more to give. Perhaps that was all the food they had for themselves.

As Carson observes:

“If they had remembered the miracle of the wine at Cana (John 2:1–11), they would have asked Jesus to meet the need rather than send the people away.”

Where we see limitation and insufficiency, God sees opportunity and abundance. All we need to do is place the little we have into His hands. Jesus responded to His disciples, “There is no need to send them away. Give them something to eat yourselves.” In those words, Jesus challenged both their compassion and their faith. He continues to challenge our faith today by asking us to feed the hungry and help the poor around us.

Giving others the little we have often means far more than we can imagine. A priest friend once told me the story of a man who travelled many miles to seek help at his parish in Nigeria. The man had spent his last money on transportation because the priests were his final hope. After hearing his story, the priest realised that the man’s problem was beyond his financial ability to solve. Nevertheless, instead of sending him away empty-handed, he gave him the little he could afford.

The man gratefully replied, “Thank you, Father. At least now I can pay for my transport back home because I have nothing left.”

Who would have imagined that the man had spent everything just to seek help? What if the priest had dismissed him because he could not solve the entire problem? That little gift made all the difference.

That is precisely what God asks of us. As Scripture says, “Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you” (cf. Matthew 5:42). I have always encouraged people never to say an outright “no” to someone asking for help. A kind word and even a small gift can bring comfort to someone in need. If you have more, give more.

God Multiplies Our Little Acts of Kindness

By feeding the five thousand, excluding women and children, Jesus teaches us never to send anyone away empty. He shows us how God multiplies our little acts of kindness and generosity. In multiplying the loaves and fish, Jesus also multiplied the faith of His disciples.

So stop complaining that you do not have enough to share. You will probably never feel that you have enough in this life. If you wait until you have enough, you may spend the rest of your life without helping anyone.

They all ate and were satisfied. Not only was God’s provision abundant, but He also did not want the leftovers wasted. The disciples collected twelve baskets full of the remaining fragments. There is so much waste in America and throughout the world today. Let us not waste God’s resources. As Barclay wisely observed, “God’s generous giving and our wise using must go hand in hand.”

The prominence of this miracle, recorded in all four Gospels, shows that both the Holy Spirit and the early Church regarded it as far more than a demonstration of Jesus’ miraculous power. It is a profound lesson in faith, generosity, compassion, and God’s abundant provision.

Conclusion

May earthly desires, greed, selfishness, and even hunger never separate us from the love of God or from one another. May God use you today to perform the miracle of multiplying joy instead of sorrow, food instead of hunger, love instead of hatred, and faith instead of unbelief. Amen.