DAILY- HOMILY

Saturday 5th Week in Ordinary Time
[Memorial, St. Claude La Colombiere]

1 Kgs 12:26-32; 13: 33-34 / Ps 106: 6-7ab, 19-20, 21-22 / Mk 8: 1-10

Reading: 1 Kgs 12: 26-32; 13:33-34   
Jeroboam thought, "The kingdom could return to the house of David. Should this people go up to offer sacrifices in Yahweh's House in Jerusalem, their heart would turn again to their master, Rehoboam king of Judah. They would kill me and go back to him." And so the king sought advice and made two golden calves. Then he said to the people, "You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." He put one of these in Bethel, the other in Dan. And so Jeroboam made the people sin; the people went as far as Dan to accompany one of them. Jeroboam also built temples on high places, appointing priests who were not from the Levites. Jeroboam also appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month in imitation of the feast in Judah, and he himself offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel and sacrificed to the calves that he had made; there he placed priests for the high places he had made. After this, however, Jeroboam did not abstain from doing evil. Instead he made priests for the high places from among the people; he consecrated anyone who wanted to be a priest for the high places. And this became the sin of the family of Jeroboam for which it was to be cut off and destroyed from the face of the earth.

Gospel: Mk 8: 1-10
Soon afterwards Jesus was in the midst of another large crowd that obviously had nothing to eat. So he called his disciples and said to them, "I feel sorry for these people because they have been with me for three days and now have nothing to eat. If I send them to their homes hungry, they will faint on the way; some of them have come a long way." His disciples replied, "Where in a deserted place like this could we get enough bread to feed these people?" He asked them, "How many loaves have you?" And they answered, "Seven." Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves and giving thanks, he broke them and handed them to his disciples to distribute. And they distributed them among the people. They also had some small fish, so Jesus said a blessing and asked that these be shared as well. The people ate and were satisfied. The broken pieces were collected, seven wicker baskets full of leftovers. Now there had been about four thousand people. Jesus sent them away and immediately got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.

Reflection:
     Jesus was able to feed so many people with mere scraps of food, whatever was given to him. He multiplied the loaves and the fish and fed everyone present. It shows that our Lord will never leave us hungry no matter what.
     Even though we might think of ourselves as poor and have nothing that valuable to offer, Jesus will make use of anything we freely offer as long as we remain pure of heart and of mind. Although nowadays only a few seem faithful to our Lord's edicts, all we need to realize is that we are not alone in this journey. Jesus is with us and is guiding us like a shepherd who herds his sheep to safety.
     We must combine our human efforts with his. The work of the Church needs our hands to help others who also are in need. There are countless institutions that look after the sick, that house those who are orphaned, that educate the illiterate and provide a venue for real companionship. This multiplication is only made possible through the love shared by generous hearts.
     May we always join our earthly actions with the divine grace of God. In this way, more people will benefit from the blessings that come from God intertwined with the hardworking volunteers who make this all possible. Let us continue to pray for the endless multiplication of such wonderful love.

Prayer Requests:
We pray ...
... for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the unborn.
... for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
... for families who are in need of healing.
... for world peace and reconciliation.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

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