“The preacher of God's truth, has told us, that all who want to live righteously, in Christ, will suffer persecution.”

 

 St. Raymond of Penyafort, priest

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

1 John 4:7-10

My dear friends,

Let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves, is born of God and knows God.

Those who do not love have not known God, for God is love.

How did the love of God appear among us? God sent his only Son into this world, that we might have life, through him.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he first loved us and sent his Son, as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

 

Ps 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8 Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊     

Mark 6:34-44

As Jesus went ashore, he saw a large crowd, and he had compassion on them,

for they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

 

It was now getting late, so his disciples came to him and said,

"This is a lonely place and it is now late. You should send the people away,

and let them go to the farms and villages around here, to buy themselves something to eat."

 

Jesus replied, "You, yourselves, give them something to eat.

" They answered, "If we are to feed them, we need two hundred silver coins to go and buy enough bread."

But Jesus said, "You have some loaves; how many? Go and see.

" The disciples found out and said, "There are five loaves and two fish."

 

Then he told them to have the people sit down, together in groups, on the green grass.

This they did, in groups of hundreds and fifties. And Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish and,

raising his eyes to heaven, he pronounced a blessing, broke the loaves,

and handed them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them.

 

They all ate and everyone had enough. The disciples gathered up what was left,

and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces of bread and fish. Five thousand men had eaten there.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"Give them something to eat."

"You, yourselves, give them something to eat." Normally when we reflect upon the feeding of the five thousand,

we naturally focus on the miraculous action of Christ, an action which expresses the generous,

compassionate love of God. However, perhaps we could dwell for a moment on the role of the disciples in this miracle.

The disciples are given tasks by Christ, and so they are involved in the accomplishment of the miracle.

 

After blessing and breaking it into pieces, Jesus hands the bread and the fish to the disciples so that they might distribute the food.

They receive from God, and they become instruments of his abundance. This is the same for us.

We are nourished and cared for by God, but we are also given more than we need so that we can pass on that love and care to others.

We are called to become instruments of Christ's abundant love in our families, at work, at school,

and in the lives of those around us, especially in the "lonely places" where love and compassion are lacking.