2 Kings 4.42-44;/ Ps.16.10+11,15+16,17+18/ Ephesians 4.1-6/ John 6.1-15
As we intently listen to the readings today, we will come to understand that the message talks about a God who provides everything for us. He takes care of us. God is God of providence.
We came to understand more of a caring God through Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus came into this world performing miracles. Miracles include remarkable healing from serious illnesses, bringing life from death, feeding multitude of people out of small amount of food, and more.
Our major goal today then is to understand the unquestionable care we receive from God. He provides us both material food and spiritual food (the so-called Bread of Life). He takes care of us materially and spiritually.
In what sense then we can understand that God supplies enough food daily for our hungry stomach. Worth considering in our reflection today that while there are people who are hungry, most of us are able to take meals 3x a day. We are even able to choose not just the nutritious food but in fact our favorite ones.
Let us take in consideration our first reading. Elisha`s trust in the Lord gives a sufficient authority to command one of the servants to feed a hundred people even with insufficient barley loaves. Remembering so well what the Lord said. “People shall eat, and there shall be some left over” (cf. 2 Kings.44). The theme in our first reading mirrored in our gospel reading today wherein Jesus performed a miraculous feeding of five thousand people.
How then can we understand a God who provides and sustains us not only spiritually but materially in the light of our gospel reading today? Are we just going to wait for a sudden appearance of food so plenty coming out from nowhere? Then we say, indeed God provides!
I think it is also good to note that most of the time Jesus started to perform a miracle not from nothing but from what is already available. In our gospel reading today, it was from the five barley loaves and two fish from the boy. The boy gave what he had. There must be more beautiful things that happened after the boy shared what he had.
Let us dig deeper and find out.
Let us ask for the gift of understanding.
God has provided human hearts perfectly connected to Him to become salt of this earth. It is what our second reading tells us too today…only if we will all be able to live in a manner worthy of our calling to give and share. Humility, gentleness, and patience can be passwords for authentic giving and sharing. It also includes bearing with one another through love (cf. Ephesian 4.1-6) .
May our hearts be triggered by even one generous heart like the boy in our gospel and be inspired to do the same. Only then we will realize that our deep relationship with God makes a lot of miracles. God has us to continue to perform more miracles.