Hopefully, your week was blessed.
In the Gospel Reading for this Sunday, we see that Jesus went over to the other shore of the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd of people followed him on foot from their towns. When he arrived, Our Lord was surprised to see the great multitude of people who were anxiously looking forward to hearing his words. When he saw them, he looked at Philip and asked him, “Where can we buy bread for them to eat?” Philip responded that it would take a lot of money to buy enough food to feed all of the people that had gathered together there. Andrew said, “Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish.” Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down on the grass. And that is when he performed the great miracle of the multiplication of the bread and fish. Over five thousand people ate their fill.
A lot has changed since Jesus’ time. Nevertheless, we still have to ask this question: to whom can we go, here on this earth, who is able to multiply loaves of bread, satisfying the hunger of the people, as Our Lord did? We cannot ignore the hunger and the need that is in the world. The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves should lead us to look to God. Only God can fill our needs, not only for bread, but spiritually.
Many think and even say, that with so many needs: how can Jesus help us? But I assure them that he is the only one who is able to do so. And if they cannot see this, it is because they have no faith. Those who ask God for help for whatever reason, if they do so respectfully and they live in grace, will receive God’s help because he never abandons us. Those of us who have faith, even if it is just a little, have seen that when we ask for help in the name of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, as he said that we should, see that our lives begin to straighten out.
We all know people who do not believe in the love of God. In acting this way, these people only fool themselves. It is clear that as long as they continue to think this way, it will be impossible for the Lord to help them. Because he wants us to love him, to respect him, and to talk to him about our needs. He also wants us to live good and virtuous lives. The day that these people begin to believe in the love that God has for us and in the help that only God can give us, is the day that they will begin to receive that help.
The First Reading, as is the case with the Gospel, confirms what I just said about the Lord. Elisha received twenty barley loaves. He said to the servant, “Give this to the people to eat.” The servant replied with these words, as if he was disappointed, “What good will this do for one hundred people? ”Elisha’s answer shows us the great faith that he had in God. He insisted, “Give this to the people to eat, because the Lord has said, ‘They will eat and there will be some left over.’” The servant obeyed and saw with his own eyes that they ate, they were filled, and there was bread left over. Just as the Lord had said.
If we firmly believe in the great love that Christ has for us and we follow his teachings, he will give us the energy we need to follow the long road to our heavenly Father. Trust in the Lord. He is the only one who can help us. Just have faith.
From St. Genevieve –St. Maurice parish…
- Our Blessed Mother statue from the sanctuary was sent for restoration. So, please don’t be surprised if SHE will be gone for a few weeks and come back refreshed and new. But please, don’t think that Our Blessed Mother is gone… 😉 She is always present in the Church! Where Jesus is, Mary his Mother always will be. “Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us!”
- So, if the Statue of Mary is gone for a few weeks, I thought that I can be gone as well… just for two weeks. I am going to have a vacation up north, Torch Lake area. I’ll continue my prayers for you and humbly ask you for your prayers. I am leaving you in such good hands of our Parish Staff and Deacon Lawrence, you are not abandoned. See you on August 7th.
Have a blessed week.
Fr. Tom