The Full Basket

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 5:34-42 ~~~ Psalm 27 ~~~ John 6:1-15 ~~~

Every year an attorney living near us hosts a large Christmas party.
It takes weeks for many workers to construct the tent
large enough to hold all the guests.
He hires top notch entertainers, live bands,
and caterers to serve delicious food.
This man goes all out to insure
that his guests have an enjoyable time.

Today in the Gospel we have the well known story
 of Jesus feeding the five thousand.
He had no tent to offer his guests.
He had no live entertainment.
He had no local caterer bring in food for the crowd.
Jesus had only himself, along with his apostles.
He wants to care for the people,
 just as my neighbor wants to care for his clients.
The only resource Jesus has is himself
 and a few fish and loaves of bread,
not much to feed five thousand.

Once he blesses the food and it is being distributed
he does not give any instructions on how much each person is to receive.
Instead he says just the opposite...let them have

...as much of the fish as they wanted.

For many of these people
 this may have been equivalent to a lavish banquet.
Who knows when they had eaten last.
How could they have known how long they would be gone from home.

They ate until they were satisfied and the food never ran out.
Perhaps some even decided to take a little extra
 to save for the trip back home.

When all had had their fill the baskets were still not empty.
Jesus told them to collect the left overs.
“Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.”

With God there is always abundance....always enough...
...nothing is wasted.

You have abundance in your life.
You are enough for God.
God wants to use you just as you are.

God blesses us.
He gives us abundance in our lives.
The 'basket' does not ever become empty.

Sometimes we take the 'basket' and hide it in the closet.
Sometimes we get tired of what is offered from the 'basket'.
But it never becomes empty.

No matter what happened to the Apostles after Jesus
appeared to them in the upper room;
their 'basket' was always full.

And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes,
they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus.

Today I invite you to pick up your basket;
see what God has given to you.
He is the only one who can keep your basket full.
He is the only one who gives and gives so that we will have more.

The more we give from the contents of our 'basket'
the more Jesus will place inside for the days to come.

Let Jesus fill your heart with his abundant love and mercy.
Every day he blesses us with more.
Keep your basket by your side.
~~~ Peace ~~~

Nothing Held Back

~~~  John 4: 7-10 ~~~ Psalm 72 ~~~ Mark 6: 34-44 ~~~

This is a deserted place and it is already very late. 
Dismiss them so that they can go... 

What we see as obstacles or impossible, Jesus walks into for us.
The disciples want Jesus to send the crowd away.
Basically they are saying to Jesus,
'you have been talking too long'.
They are thinking about the reality that people
need food sooner or later.
Jesus could have responded by telling them
this was his gig and they should sit down and be quiet.

All joking aside, the story of the loaves and the fishes
is one we are all comfortable with;
we have heard it since we were children.
We know that Jesus preforms a miracle;
 he effortlessly multiplies the meager food brought to him.
We know that five thousand men, along with their wives,
and children were fed that day.
No one went hungry that day; their physical needs were met.
We also know there were twelve baskets of leftovers.

How can there be left overs when you begin with so little?

Jesus is foreshadowing the last supper
here when he will give his own body and blood for nourishment.

The loaves and the fishes story fed their bodies and minds
 leaving the crowd yearning for more. They wanted their souls to be fed as well.

Jesus took a simple peasants meal and it became abundance.
All that we have been given from God is capable of becoming greater.
When we place ourselves into the hands of Jesus
 he will multiple our efforts toward his good.

Today Jesus nourishes us with the Eucharist.
He gives us himself at every Mass.
He holds nothing back.

All were fed that day...all were satisfied.
When Jesus blesses and we are no longer hungry.

Jesus never sends anyone away hungry.
When the basket gets to you what will you do?

There is more than enough
for everyone to partake in this miracle.