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Today's Gospel in Art - The Feeding of the Multitude


The Feeding of the Multitude, from Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry © Musée Condé, Paris

The Feeding of the Multitude, from Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry © Musée Condé, Paris

Gospel of 2nd December 2020 - Matthew 15:29-37

Jesus reached the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and he went up into the hills. He sat there, and large crowds came to him bringing the lame, the crippled, the blind, the dumb and many others; these they put down at his feet, and he cured them. The crowds were astonished to see the dumb speaking, the cripples whole again, the lame walking and the blind with their sight, and they praised the God of Israel.

But Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 'I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them off hungry, they might collapse on the way.' The disciples said to him, 'Where could we get enough bread in this deserted place to feed such a crowd?' Jesus said to them, 'How many loaves have you?' 'Seven' they said 'and a few small fish.' Then he instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves and the fish, and he gave thanks and broke them and handed them to the disciples, who gave them to the crowds. They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected what was left of the scraps, seven baskets full.

Reflection on the Medieval Illuminated Manuscript Page

Regularly I like to delve back into Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, from which today's illuminated manuscript page is taken. It is probably the best and most stunning book surviving from Medieval times. Being a Book of Hours, it holds a collection of prayers to be said at the canonical hours of the day. Three Low Countries painters, the Limburg Brothers (Herman, Paul, and Johan), all worked on the illustrations, which are executed with finest detail. Consisting of a total of 206 leaves of very fine quality vellum, it contains 66 large illustrations and 65 small ones. Its miniatures helped to shape the image we have of the Middle Ages, and the clothes and vestments in particular are rendered with striking detail.

The illuminated page illustrates today's reading where Jesus is feeding the crowds. We see the loaves and fish being held in front of Jesus. The Holy Spirit and God the Father are depicted above Jesus. The crowds are patiently waiting. A miracle is about to happen. Jesus will now take what is being offered to Him, however small, such as the loaves and fish, and will multiply it greatly. We must never think we have little to give to Him or to others. If we use what we have for His glory, He will fill us in abundance. Therein lies the mystery of our faith: a mysterious disproportion between what I can give and what the Lord makes of it…

LINKS

Today's story - https://christian.art/en/daily-gospel-reading/624

Christian Art - www.christian.art/index.php

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