Tuesday after Epiphany – Mark
6:34-44
The first statement in this Gospel is a very powerful one. It speaks of Jesus’ love and compassion for
the people who have come to hear Him preach.
Mark writes: “When Jesus saw the crowds of people who gathered around
Him, He was “moved with pity.” Jesus
realized that these people were like sheep who had no shepherd. They had no one to care for them, love them,
or lead them.
Jesus was preaching in a deserted place. As evening drew near, Jesus’ disciples
suggested that He send the crowds of people away. They knew that the people were hungry and that
they did not have enough food to feed them so they suggested to Jesus that He
send the people to the surrounding villages or farms where they could get some
food. The disciples did not have enough
money to supply food for all these people.
Surprisingly, Jesus asked His disciples how many loaves of
bread they had. They told Jesus that
they only had five loaves of bread and two little fish. Jesus then told them to have the people sit
down in groups. The scene that follows
is a foreshadowing of the sacrament of Eucharist: Jesus quietly took the five loaves and the
two fish and blessed them. Then He gave
the bread and the fish to the disciples to distribute. All the people ate until they were satisfied. Surprisingly, there were several baskets of
food left over!
At times in life, we also may doubt that we have sufficient
strength, courage, patience, or hope to continue our journey. These are the moments when we need to turn to
Jesus and ask Him for the grace to trust that we do have enough of what we
need. Our limited supply of strength,
faith, hope, (you fill in the blank) may seem so very small. Yet Jesus has the ability to work wonders
with just a “little bit.” The key is for
us to stay connected to Jesus. If we do
this, we will have what we need when we need it.
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