Today's Reflections
The Feeding of the Five Thousand
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Mk 6:34-44
34When
[Jesus] disembarked and 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. 35By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already very late. 36Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37He
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?” 38He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out they said, “Five loaves and two fish.” 39So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass.
40The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties. 41Then,
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. 42They all ate and were satisfied. 43And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments and what was left of the fish. 44Those who ate [of the loaves] were five thousand men.
Reflection:
His heart was moved with pity. There
is a hunger for Jesus in the people who follow him and his disciples,
and they do not allow them to enjoy a day off by themselves.
Jesus,
who sees them like sheep without a shepherd, acts as the Good Shepherd
that he is. He feeds them first with his teaching, because he knows that
man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes forth
from the mouth of God. But he does not neglect the bodily needs of
people. He gives them bread and fish as well. He feeds them abundantly
with his teaching (he teaches them “many things” and lengthily). He
provides for them so much that they are all satisfied, and there are
still twelve baskets of leftovers.
That
is the way of Jesus, the Good Shepherd—he leads his sheep to green
pastures. We experience this abundance in the Eucharist where we receive
the Word of God and the Body of Christ.
Receiving the Eucharist, we should also attend
to our needy brothers and sisters.
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