Mark 6:34-44 God is Love

In today's Gospel we hear of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.  This is God's generosity, his bounty within the limitless Love that He is.  Saint John reiterates in his letter, "Beloved, let us love one another, because God is love...God sent his only-begotten son into the world so that we might have life through him.  In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins." (1 John 4:7-10)

Sometimes we forget that God is love or how much he loves us.  Sometimes we have someone we know and love who is sick and there is nothing that can be done to cure them.  Doctors think the person too old, or the condition too severe, and refuse further treatment.  Where is God then?  Where is his love in that?  Perhaps we are too narrowly focused and God's love is in our periphery view.  His love is there in the telephone calls from family and friends gathered around the one dying, in the comfort and care they give each other.  It is in the sadness the doctors feel for not being able to make the antibiotics work, or the frustration with the insurance companies denying treatments.  God's love is there too in his gift of time and the knowledge of how short we have together so that we can prepare ourselves and celebrate each passing moment as the treasure it is.  There is also the gift of mercy and hope in knowing that through God's love we may be reunited in the next life and spend an eternity of joy together. 

Perhaps the loaves and fishes are a metaphor for God's love, that he has given us each the gift of love and we must collect it from amongst ourselves.  As we share and pass it along the way, in the end we find that it will overflow and cannot be contained for the love that we share is greater than us all.

Matthew 15:29-37

In today's reading Jesus goes up the mountain where those who are poor in spirit, those who are outcasts such as the blind, the lame, mute, etc. have come for healing.  Jesus is touched and says, "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat.  I do not want to send them away hungry."  Jesus then takes seven loaves and five fish, blesses them and the feed the crowds with seven baskets left over. 

Jesus first goes to the mountain.  Mountains have been used as a meeting place with God throughout history.  Jesus is man yes, but also the Christ, the door keeper who ushers us through the door to God, so we find it appropriate that he is gathered with those who are humbled, meek, and the poor in spirit.  He consoles them, he forgives them their sins, and heals them.  Are they just healed in body?  No, Christ heals the soul, the spirit, too.  As we read today's Gospel we are called to that mountain too, to be healed and made whole, to be purified and ready to meet God. 

Ask yourself, What do I need healing in my life?  Is there something physically wrong with me, or does it mask a deeper pain?  Is there something that I can find healing through in an Anointing of the Sick or through the Sacrament of Reconciliation?  In both there is great healing if we are open to it.  Perhaps this can be part of our Advent journey?