The Gospel according to Mark (6:34-44)
When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.
By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said,
“This is a deserted place and it is already very late.
Dismiss them so that they can go
to the surrounding farms and villages
and buy themselves something to eat.”
He said to them in reply,
“Give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him,
“Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food
and give it to them to eat?”
He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”
And when they had found out they said,
“Five loaves and two fish.”
So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass.
The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties.
Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples
to set before the people;
he also divided the two fish among them all.
They all ate and were satisfied.
And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments
and what was left of the fish.
Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.
Reflection:
Today, we have Mark’s account of the feeding of the five thousand by Jesus. Mark is always about Jesus in action. Here, he does a little extra teaching of His disciples as well. He knew that they would not be able to feed the crowd on their own, and knew that He would do this miraculous multiplication of the five loaves and two fish. He may have just been doing this as a test for them.
At any rate, the lesson we get from the story is the boundless generosity of God. He gives so much food from the five loaves and two fish that all were satisfied. God’s blessing is given in that same abundance – He gives us so much blessing that we have baskets full left over of blessing, and our call as His children is to share that blessing with others. The amazing thing, though, is that we don’t notice that abundance of blessing at all times. When life throws us an unexpected curve, or some kind of tragedy strikes, we feel like God has left us alone.
That brings me to the other part of our job as a member of God’s family – when we feel in abundance of blessing, we are called to share that with those who are in lack. And, we trust that God will bring someone to us when we are the ones who feel like we lack.
God never leaves us alone and will send us that person or that blessing when we truly need it most. We just have to trust and wait for it to happen. Or, in those times of abundance, we need to be the ones who make it happen.
Action for the Day: Consider how God has blessed you today. If you can, do some kind act as a blessing for someone else today, for no other reason, other than that person is a child of God as you are!
