Scarcity into Plenty

Jesus replied, ‘There is no need for them to go: give them something to eat yourselves.’ But they answered ‘All we have with us is five loaves and two fish.’ ‘Bring them here to me’ he said.

Mt.14:16-18

Huge crowds follow Jesus to a lonely place where, out of pity for them, he heals their sick. The unplanned assembly has no food so the disciples turn to Jesus to solve the problem. The miracle feeding of the five thousand results.

Today's first reading has the complaining people mob Moses while crying out for meat.  Moses intercedes to God who then supplies quail to satisfy their hunger. The same course of action is followed in the Gospel... complaint, intercession, supply.

In both instances God uses what is available to meet the needs of the people, quail for the Hebrews in the desert, five loaves and two fish for the crowds following Jesus. What was required both times before a miracle happened was prayer. It seems God waits for the prayer before moving his hand.

Two things are revealed here. First, God wants to supply my needs. Second, he wants me to ask him. When I run out of options God is there waiting. "Ask and you shall receive", he says. It's only after I ask that miracles can happen.

Jesus, you are still in the business of turning scarcity into plenty. Our parish Alpha course starts this evening. Lord, I hand over our "five loaves and two fish" and ask you do a miraculous work.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

Be a Joseph

‘Where did the man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? This is the carpenter’s son, surely?'
Mt.13:54,55

Jesus is teaching in his hometown but is rejected by the people. Knowing where he was from blinded them to the miracles that were happening before them.

This could be the last reference to Joseph in the scriptures and it's an oblique and derogatory one at that. "How could such wisdom and power come from one who's father is just a carpenter". And yet there Jesus is with wisdom and power while his foster father was Joseph the carpenter.

The man is revealed in the boy he raised. Yes, Jesus is divine but he is fully human also. Joseph would have modeled for Jesus his humanity, what a man of faith looks like. Isn't this the role of every father for his sons and daughters?

My children are now adults, most with their own children. Yet my role remains, to model what a man of faith looks like for them and their children, to be a Joseph.

Jesus, you learnt from the knee of Joseph what true manliness looked like. Help me be an authentic witness of manliness to my children and grandchildren.
Saint Joseph, please pray for me.

Heart Surgery

One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.
Acts16:14

Today's Gospel Acclamation is taken from Acts 16 verse 14. There it's recorded how Lydia, who was listening to Paul preach, had her heart opened and she believed. As a result she and her household were baptised.

This sort of divine heart surgery is very different from the physical kind. It's lifesaving in an eternal sense. It changes everything in a person's life. God becomes the central point of reference. The moment it happened for me I will never forget. My landscape changed forever.

Our parish is about to start an Alpha Course. While there is no pressure and no expectations on guests attending Alpha, there's every hope that divine heart surgery will take place. I'm looking forward to the course also for my own benefit. My own heart needs softening up to pay attention to what God is saying.

Lord God, my heart can harden so easily. Open my heart so can pay attention to what you are saying to me.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

Fear and Love

He does not treat us according to our sins nor repay us according to our faults. For as the heavens are high above the earth so strong is his love for those who fear him.
Ps.102:10,11

The psalmist reveals the mighty mercy and love God has for those who fear him.

The heavens are measurelessly high above the earth yet this is how God describes his love for me despite my sins. What's the qualifier? Fearing God.

Fear has a negative connotation yet scripture constantly holds up the fear of God as a great virtue. The fear of God is the start of all wisdom. Hearing someone is God-fearing actually makes us trust that person more. If they fear God, they are more likely to keep their word and treat others with kindness. It's as though they have one eye on God while relating to people.

The fear of God is more than just holding God in awe and wonder. It's making him my constant reference point, his mercy and love the mark against which I measure how I relate to people. This is both difficult and easy. Difficult because the smoke screen of the world works to obscure my view of God. Easy because God is constantly leaning down to reveal himself to me. I just need to look for him.

Jesus, you are God-with-us. I want you clearly in sight today so I may fear you as I love others.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

Death, Where is Your Sting

‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she said ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.’ 

Jn.11:25-27

Feast of Saint Martha 

Jesus arrives at the tomb of Lazarus and is met by Martha who remonstrates that had he not tarried Lazarus would be alive. Jesus answers with a clear revelation of who he is and challenges Martha to state her belief in him. Martha gives the right answer and in that atmosphere of pure faith Jesus performs his great miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead.

Martha is coxed by Jesus to give her magnificent statement of faith... "you are the Christ, the Son of God". It seems Jesus uses her faith to fuel the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. Here he reveals that even death, the big bogey for all of us, is conquered by his love.

My mother, on her deathbed, accepted Jesus as the resurrection and the life after a lifetime of atheism. I saw the transforming peace this gave her, even commented on by my non-believing sister.

My proclamation of faith in Jesus means death has lost its sting and the door is opened for life, peace and joy to flood in.

Jesus, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

Wheat Among the Weeds

Let them both grow till the harvest; and at harvest time I shall say to the reapers: First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burnt, then gather the wheat into my barn. 

Mt.13:30

Jesus tells the parable of the wheat among the weeds to explain the Kingdom of Heaven.

This another time where Jesus tells the unpopular truth that not everyone is going to heaven. Some come into the the Father's house while others are gathered and burnt. Sorry, there it is. According to Jesus, Hell exists and it's unpleasantly hot.

This puts a sharper focus on evangelisation, especially on ensuring my family are wheat and not weeds. It's not just a nice thing to do. It's a matter of eternal life or death.

And then there's the matter of my own salvation. What assurances do I have there? Only the assurances of Jesus. "Come to me... I am the way".

Yes, weeds exist. They are life-choking. Wheat is life-giving. Today I am to be the seed on fertile ground, the wheat among the weeds to nourish those around me.

Jesus, sometimes the weeds, the cares and worries of the world, choke me. I flick those cares off my shoulders and lift my face up to you. I want to be life-giving in you today.
Little Flower, please pray for me.

Just Breath

Their descendants stand by the covenants and, thanks to them, so do their children’s children. Their offspring will last forever, their glory will not fade. Their bodies have been buried in peace, and their name lives on for all generations.

Eccl.44:12-14

Today is the memorial of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and grandparents of Jesus. Sirach writes a hymn in honour of all faithfull ancestors.

I attended grandparents day at our grandchildren's Catholic primary school yesterday and had the joy of attending Mass with my six year old grandson sitting on my knee. I was reminded of how faith is caught, not taught. Teaching has to happen but the gift of faith is something that is breathed in. And to be breathed in it has to be in the atmosphere being breathed.

My faith was caught but not in the usual way. My children evangelised me, their non-believer father. They caught their faith from their mother, my wife, who in turn caught it from her parents. So God can give the gift of faith in many ways but it always involves relationships, usually within families. It's in a family where faith is practiced that faith is breathed in, that faith is caught.

As a mighty Kauri generates oxygen through photosynthesis, I still have a role to play in my children's and grandchildren's lives. I can generate a faith-laden atmosphere so it can be breathed in by those around me.

Lord Jesus, thank you for my gift of faith. Help me add faith to the atmosphere in my home so it can be breathed in by those close to me.
Saint's Anne and Joachim, please pray for me.