Homily for February 10, 2018.
“And he
commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves,
and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set
before the people; and they set them before the crowd… And they ate, and were
satisfied; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And
there were about four thousand people.” Mark 8:6-9.
For some
days now, our readings, especially our Gospel passages have been centred on the
miracles of Jesus. Amongst all these miracles, the feeding of the multitude
stands out as one of the most significant in that it contains so many lessons
for us even today:
One,
GENEROSITY. Notice that it was only after they all ate and were satisfied that
the people realized a miracle had just taken place. Dear friends, whatever you
share increases. No one ever became poor by giving.
Two,
THANKSGIVING. The feeding of the multitude by Jesus is the physical origin of
the Eucharist in that Jesus performed this miracle to prepare the people (wet
their appetite) for his own body and blood. In fact, the very word Eucharist
means Thanksgiving. By giving thanks, Jesus made seven loaves and a few small
fish multiply to feed four thousand. At every mass, the priest give thanks and
by so doing, the bread and wine becomes the body and blood of Jesus.
Thanksgiving
multiplies things. Thanksgiving changes everything for good. Thanksgiving
brings you joy when it seems as if life is hard and tough. Philippians 4:6
says: “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Eckhat
Tolle once said: “if the only prayer you ever said is ‘Thank You’, it will be
enough.”
Three,
LEADERSHIP AS SERVICE. To be in charge of a group of people should never be
seen a privilege. It is a calling. Leadership is being able to bring oneself
down to the level of people, being able to understand their plights and attend
to their needs. A good leader is compassionate. Listen to the words of Jesus in
today’s Gospel passage: “I have compassion on the crowd because they have been
with me three days now and have nothing to eat.”
A good
leader feels the pulse of his people. He always puts himself in the shoes of
the people. A good leader does not discriminate, a good leader is just and fair
to everyone not minding who comes from his tribe or not. However, providing the
needs of the people does not mean leading them into sin as Rehoboam did in
today’s first reading.
Four, NO
SITUATION IS HOPELESS. No matter how tough life may be for you, there is always
seven loaves and two fish somewhere. When it seemed as if providing bread for
the multitude was going to be a “mission impossible” Jesus asked: “How many
loaves have you? Stop complaining about life. Yes, life if hard in this country
but who says life is easy anywhere in the world? Start from somewhere. Look around
you, there is something God has given you that is capable of turning your
situation around.
Five,
WASTING IS SINFUL. It is interesting to note that Jesus ordered them to gather
the left-overs. Never throw food away; by so doing, you deprive a lot of hungry
stomachs all over the world. Never let your food go bad; be generous! Check your
store every day and if you notice you have more food than you can eat before it
goes bad, give them away.
Let us
Pray: Lord Jesus, teach me to always be grateful and to tap into the power of
giving thanks. Amen. St. Scholastica, pray for us.
Be happy,
live positive, it is well with you. Saturday of the 5th week in
Ordinary time. Bible
Study: 1st Kings 12:26-13:34 and Mark 8:1-10.
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