THE MIRACLE INSIDE

They had not understood the incident of the loaves. – Mark 6:52

Over the weekend, I gave my tithes to my parish, paid my bills, gave a week’s allowance to my scholar, donated an amount to the family of a friend who had died, bought some groceries, and so on. As I counted the money left in my wallet, I wondered, “Will this be enough for 10 days?” I doubted it, because I still had some expected cash outlays.

       In years past, I would panic if I had less than P5,000 in my wallet. This time, instead of panicking, I simply prayed. “Lord, I trust in You. You are my provider.”

       Shortly after, as I was clearing my bag of receipts and other litter, I saw a folded envelope. Inside were two crisp P500 bills! It was a token from the organizer of an event that I had helped out with a few months earlier. “Thank You, Lord!” I smiled. It was a miracle, and I knew the Lord had more in store for me.

       In the Bible, we read about the wonders that Jesus had worked. Today, we too experience His miracles — big and small. But sometimes, we fail to remember what He has done for us when we are in our darkest moments.

       Maybe it’s time we recall the miracles He has wrought in our lives. Let’s trust that He will do so much more if we allow Him! Tess V. Atienza (svp_tvatienza@yahoo.com)

Reflection: What miracles has the Lord done in your life?

Dearest Lord, thank You for Your miracles in my life. Help me to trust that You are always there, ready to perform another one, and another one, and another one….

Blessed Angela of Foligno, pray for us.

We know that God loves us because He sent His Son to die for us. We know a person loves his country when he is willing to lay down his life for it. We know a person believes in a cause when he is willing to give all he has to see it progress. We have known or seen one of the above examples. Do we live our faith with the same focus of mind, heart and spirit that these examples express?

7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. 8Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. 9In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only begotten Son into the world so that we might have life through him. 10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.

1 O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king’s son; 2 He shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment. (R) 3 The mountains shall yield peace for the people, and the hills justice. 4 He shall defend the afflicted among the people, save the children of the poor. (R) 7 Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. 8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. (R)

To understand the image of the heart of a shepherd, it is necessary to know that the sheep depend totally upon the shepherd to guard them from danger and to lead them to food and water each day. In other words, without a shepherd, the sheep will die. This is how Jesus sees the Jewish people of His time —like sheep slowly dying for want of good spiritual leadership. We now know what He means when He uses this image.

The Lord has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor and to proclaim liberty to captives.

34 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. 35 By 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. 40 The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties. 41 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. 42 They all ate and were satisfied. 43And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments and what was left of the fish. 44 Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.

think:  We know that God loves us because He sent His Son to die for us.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Luke 22-24

THE GOOD SHEPHERD OFFERS REST AND

Who was the Infant Jesus who was born in utter poverty in Bethlehem? Why did the Almighty God become a weak human being?

       Yesterday, we said that the liturgy of the Christmas season tries to answer these questions. Today, the evangelist Mark provides us with a beautiful answer. St. Mark begins by telling us how Jesus took pity on the large crowd that followed Him: “They were like sheep without a shepherd.”

       Many churches have adoration chapels — wonderful places of rest in the presence of the Good Shepherd. A good friend of mine, a very busy lawyer, makes it a point to attend the Holy Mass every day and spend some time in an adoration chapel. There he finds rest, peace and direction. What else can one expect in the presence of the Good Shepherd?

       Mark gives us another answer as to why Jesus came into this world. He nourished the crowd. The way Mark describes the scene makes us see that this event was a foreshadowing of the Eucharist. The words “took, blessed, broke, distributed,” used during the Last Supper when Jesus instituted the Eucharist, are the same words used today at the consecration.

       Mark also tells us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem to nourish us. During the Midnight Mass two years ago, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said, “Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we are in Bethlehem.” Jesus, who came unknown to the world, born in a manger, would remain in the world, hidden under the species of bread and wine.

       The Eucharist would become the center of the early Christian communities. The recent popes remind us what the Second Vatican Council proclaimed: “The Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life.” For here, Christ remains present among us, enters our very being and strengthens us, and continues to lead us in our journey through life until we reach our goal: eternal life and happiness in the presence of His Father. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

REFLECTION QUESTION: What can you do this year to find more peace and strength in the Lord who offers you all these — for free?

Lord, in our hectic life, You offer us rest. Help me to use it. Lord, often I feel spiritually dry, empty and hungry. Help me to accept You more consciously every time I receive the Eucharist.