The Bukas Loob Sa Diyos (BLD) Catholic Charismatic Covenant Community, where Raul and I belong, is about to hold another Life in the Spirit Seminar (LSS). It remains to be one of the most powerful tools of evangelization held once a year at no cost to the candidates. Around 400 people are expected to take part in it, including the lambs, shepherds, and the working team. It isn’t easy feeding everyone over the weekend, not to mention other expenses like venue rental, sound system, and many more.

There are always many Philips who express doubt about the big outlay. But just like Jesus, we choose not to listen. Jesus simply commanded the disciples to get the loaves and fish from the little boy and distribute to all. We know the rest of the story—everyone had their fill with 12 baskets of leftovers.

The same is true for BLD Manila, which has held 57 LSS weekends since it began 39 years ago. At the end of every LSS, there’s an excess of funds from the love offerings. Indeed, miracles of multiplication still happen. Mari Sison-Garcia (mari_sison_garcia@yahoo.com)

Reflect:

Do you lose faith and fail to see God’s abundant provisions for His work?

Lord, we trust in Your faithfulness and believe that You provide when You send us forth.

Saint Samson, pray for us.

First Reading | 2 Kings 4:42-44

Today’s Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 145) gives us an interpretation of the First Reading: “The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.” Do you believe that God provides for your needs? If not, then how do you explain this promise in the psalm? There are many people in the world who lack essential things for true human dignity. But this lack of provision is not on the part of the Lord; there are people who have extra yet refuse to share it with others.

⁴² A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God, twenty barely loaves made from the first fruits, and fresh grain in the ear. Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.” ⁴³ But his servant objected, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” Elisha insisted, “Give it to the people to eat.” For thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and there shall be some left over.’ ” ⁴⁴ And when they had eaten, there was some left over, as the Lord had said.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18

R: The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

¹⁰ Let all your works give you thanks, O Lord, and let your faithful ones bless you. ¹¹ Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might. (R) ¹⁵ The eyes of all look hopefully to you, and you give them their food in due season; ¹⁶ you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. (R) ¹⁷ The Lord is just in all his ways and holy in all his works. ¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. (R)

Second Reading | Ephesians 4:1-6

One of the best ways to keep a community united is to ensure that people have enough essentials for dignified living. Strong bonds of love are cemented when people help one another in times of need and difficulty. These bonds stand the test of time, as people always remember acts of love shared with them. Let us pray that our community members share their love with one another in many different ways. Our love will draw others to the gift of salvation that the Gospel offers to the world.

¹ Brothers and sisters: I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, ³ striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: ⁴ one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Gospel | John 6:1-15

Jesus must have constantly fought the temptation to use His authority rather than submit to the Father’s will. The temptation would have been strengthened by His miracles and the peoples’ desire to make Him king. Jesus, however, resisted this temptation and obeyed His Father's will. Let us live by Jesus’ example, especially when things are going well and we seem to be invincible. Sin and temptation are never far away, so let us always obey God’s will.

Gospel Acclamation

 A great prophet has risen in our midst. God has visited his people.

¹ Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. ² A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. ⁴ The Jewish feast of Passover was near. 5 When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” ⁶ He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. ⁷ Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” ⁸ One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, ⁹ “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. ¹¹ Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. ¹² When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” ¹³ So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. ¹⁴ When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” ¹⁵ Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

Reflect:

When has God stretched your limited resources (physically and spiritually) far beyond what you could ever imagine? How did He do this?

Read the Bible in one year! Read PSALMS 106 - 110 today.

Broken Yet Shared

In the time of Jesus, children were helpless and considered as property. They did not have rights. And yet, elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus restores their dignity: “Let the children come to me. Do not hinder them.”

Our Gospel today is about the multiplication of loaves. It shows Andrew telling Peter, and Peter relaying to Jesus, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.” All the disciples were aware of this. We can imagine how the boy must have felt, seeing these adults, perhaps whispering to one another, then looking at him.

For a boy who was a nobody, the little that he had was already considered a treasure. Usually young children stay with their parents when going out, but the fact that the boy had his own ration of only five loaves and two fish probably indicated that he was not with his parents.

Jesus went up the mountain, and there, sat with His disciples. So the setting was on a mountain, which meant they were all away from home. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. During Passover, bread can become too expensive. The last part of the Gospel says, “When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea.” They were far from the sea, thus they needed whatever source of protein they had—in this case, fish.

What the boy brought was his all. The bread was expensive; the fish was something difficult to let go. It was all that the boy had for his days away from home in following Jesus. He barely had anything, yet he offered what he had.

When Jesus breaks us for others, we become sufficient; in fact, we gain. Acknowledging our limitations, like the little boy did, means that we are conscious of our helplessness and weaknesses. We are broken and yet ready to be shared for all. Fr. Wen Amit, OCD

Reflection Question:

What are your weaknesses and limitations? Are you ready to share your brokenness with others?

Dearest Lord, I offer to You whatever I have—including my brokenness and limitations. Use me as You will. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ______________________________________