“SPRINGS OF LIVING WATER”
Daily Spiritual Reflections
4th January 2022
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TUESDAY, OCTAVE OF EPIPHANY
1 Jn 4: 7-10; Ps 72: 1-4,7-8; Mk 6: 34-44
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INSTRUMENTS OF GOD'S LOVE
Miracles are always stories of hope in a hopeless situation. Here, Jesus has just heard the news that his cousin John the Baptist has been killed, beheaded for being a good man and standing up for what is right. He is mourning and wants to be alone. But when the people hear that he is in town, they all rush to him, searching for hope and healing.
When Jesus sees their need, he puts aside his own pain and turns his attention to those before him, teaching and healing. After a whole day of serving them, he sees their need for food and is moved with compassion. He asks the disciples to feed them, and, when they say that they do not have enough food, he multiplies what they had to feed the five thousand men and their families. This is the God we believe in, who empties himself, who serves without limit and without end. He keeps giving because of his great love.
There are many miracles of Jesus in the gospels; all these along with today’s miracle point to Jesus being the son of God, the Messiah, the saviour, the hope of humanity. Our challenge today is to love like Jesus loved, so that we too can become instruments of his hope to the world that is yearning for it.
Can we set aside our own pains and needs, for the sake of the needs of others? We can start doing so at home and then extend it to those beyond the confines of familial bonds. Jesus was able to give us so much because he loved us much. His words to Peter after the resurrection are addressed to every Christian, “If you love me, feed my sheep.” He wants us to be like him, to love deeply and serve unreservedly forgetting our own self and opening our hearts to others, even when it is difficult and tiresome. We love because he loved us first and because he has the power to multiply our simple gifts of love to feed multitudes.
Response: All nations on earth shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
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