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 ~~~

Seven Baskets Left Over

~~~ 1 Kings 12:26-32; 13:33-34 ~~~ Psalm 106 ~~~ Mark 8:1-10 ~~~

“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
because they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.

Jesus is now hanging out with the Gentiles.
What has he been doing for three days?
How has he kept them wanting to remain,
ignoring their hunger pains?
Was he healing people of common afflictions?
Was he speaking words so touching
that they dare not want to miss a single one?

All we do know is that they remained
with him night and day without food for three days.

Jesus is concerned about the people as they journey back to their homes.
It does not matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile;
everyone has the same need for food.

The disciples give him the seven loaves of bread
they have carried with them.
They also had a few fish which would hardly be enough
 to feed such a large group.

Jesus stands before this crowd of Gentiles and does what any good Jewish host
would do he gives thanks to God for providing the bread,
breaks it, and distributes it.

He also blesses the fish and has it distributed to the people.

This should remind you of the same ritual he uses during the Last Supper.
The same ritual that has become the central part of our Mass.

Do you think it was the blessing that Jesus prayed
that miraculously multiplied the offerings of bread and fish?
Or was it because of his strong connection with the Father?

They ate and were satisfied.
They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets.

Seven baskets of left over food was collected...seven.
The number representing fullness, wholeness and completeness.
The four thousand left that day
more complete and whole
than they were at the beginning of the first day.

How much does it take to make you feel whole and complete?
Would you be satisfied with the left overs?
God blesses us with his wholeness;
it is he alone who can complete us for all of eternity.
Peace.

All Who Ate Were Satisfied

The Most Holy

Body and Blood

of Christ

 

~~Genesis 14:18-20~~Psalm 110~~ 1 Corinthians 11:23-26~~Luke 9:11b-17~~

 

Then taking the five loaves and the two fish,
and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing over them, broke them,
and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
They all ate and were satisfied.
And when the leftover fragments were picked up,
they filled twelve wicker baskets.

 

 

Jesus looked up to heaven...to God the Father...

Demonstrating his connection with the Father and

his obedience to him in all things.

 

He said the blessing over the few loaves and fishes.

Nothing is too meager or too insignificant for God to work on his behalf.

 

Jesus breaks the bread and it turns into abundance

right before the eyes of the apostles.

The bread is broken.

Because of its brokenness it feeds thousands that day.

This is truly what we remember today...

the broken body of Jesus and the pouring out of his blood.

Through his sacrifice we are given the gift of the Eucharist...

abundantly and forever feeding us and blessing us.

 

All who ate of these tiny fragments of bread and fish were satisfied.

It is only through the blessing, said over these few offerings,

 that everyone who ate was satisfied.

 

How much food must you consume before you are satisfied?

 

Not only were all who ate satisfied,

they had twelve baskets of leftover fragments remaining.

 

Leftovers from God and for God.

 

How many people think of God as merely their leftovers.

How many people try in vain to satisfy their hunger on that which is not of God?

 

Lord, you satisfy the hungry heart.

I believe in the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It sustains and nourishes my soul.

Thank you, Lord, for this wondrous gift.