Wednesday, December 2, 2026 — Wednesday of the First Week of Advent
Seven loaves and a few fish
Matthew 15:29-37
Readings of the day: Isaiah 25:6-10a; Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6; Matthew 15:29-37.
The Gospel
Jesus goes up a mountain by the Sea of Galilee, and great crowds bring him the lame, the blind, the mute and many others; he heals them all, and the crowds glorify the God of Israel. Then, moved with pity for the crowd that has been with him three days with nothing to eat, he takes seven loaves and a few fish, gives thanks, breaks them and gives them to the disciples, who give them to the crowds. All eat and are satisfied, and seven baskets of fragments are left over.
Reflection
The crowd came to be healed and did not dare to ask for food; but he who loves man gives it to them unasked, says St. John Chrysostom. He waited until the third day, when all they had brought was consumed, so that being first placed in need they might receive the food with keener appetite. St. Jerome notes the order: Christ first took away the infirmities of the sick, and afterwards supplied food to those who had been healed. The Gloss draws the lesson for the soul: sin must first be wiped away, and then the soul is fed with the words of God. And Remigius sees in the one act both natures of Christ: in his compassion for the multitude he shows the feeling of human frailty; in the multiplication of the loaves, the working of his divinity. He heals first, then feeds; he asks only that we bring him what little we have.
From the Fathers
“For the multitude when they came to be healed, had not dared to ask for food, but He that loveth man, and hath care of all creatures, gives it to them unasked.”
— St. John Chrysostom, Homily 53 on Matthew, in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 15:29–37
“Christ first took away the infirmities of the sick, and afterwards supplied food to them that had been healed.”
— St. Jerome, in the Catena Aurea on Matthew 15:29–37
Saint of the day
Saint Bibiana, Virgin and Martyr (d. c. 360), a Roman martyr whose remains rest in the church built over her home in Rome. The earliest record of her is in the Liber Pontificalis, which says Pope Simplicius built a church over her tomb; according to the ancient account, she was the daughter of the Christians Flavian and Dafrosa, and after her parents were put to death under the emperor Julian she held fast to the faith and died under the scourge.
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Sources: the day’s readings follow the daily lectionary (USCCB, Lectionary 177). The Gospel text is not reproduced here; read it at the link above. Patristic quotes: Catena Aurea on Matthew 15:29–37, compiled by St. Thomas Aquinas, translated by John Henry Newman (1841, public domain).