JESUS feels so much compassion for the crowd that he cannot simply dismiss them. The disciples know it is impossible for them to feed 4,000 people, and they are preoccupied.
Jesus, however, keeps calm and handles the situation with just seven loaves and a few fish. Everyone is satisfied, and the disciples even collect seven baskets of leftovers! What is humanly impossible is possible to Jesus.
God, the maker of all things, never runs out of anything. Sometimes we forget that God wants to provide us with what we need more than what we desire for ourselves. God cannot leave us hungry, weary, afraid, abandoned. God is always there for us.
Gospel: Mk 8:1-10
In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, Jesus summoned the disciples and said, “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.” His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?” Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven.” He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also. They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over – seven baskets. There were about four thousand people.
He dismissed them and got into the boat with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: pub[email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
