Fr Frank writes:
My Dear Friends,
In today’s first reading and in the Gospel we hear of signs: signs of God’s power and love. We can note three things in these two readings, plus an additional point from our second reading, which is more to do with our response to God’s power and love in our lives.
- God can and does use our ordinary day-to-day needs (in this case for food) to manifest his power. The multiplication of loaves both by the prophet Elisha in the first reading and by Jesus in the Gospel bring home this point: God is involved even in the very ordinary things of our life.
- God uses these ordinary things to show his extra-ordinary love. In both readings the loaves are made of barley which was considered the food of the poor. It is this food of the poor which is transformed into food of immeasurable worth.
- God’s power is unlimited and his loving generosity is boundless. After feeding a large number of people there is still more food remaining. There is, in fact, no end to His bounty.
- Finally, in today’s Second Reading Paul proposes that in experiencing this power and love, as we do at Mass, we, in turn, should be motivated to extraordinary love of our neighbour.
A question, then, for all of us to ponder: How have I experienced God’s power and love in my life, and how did I respond to it?
We wish Fr Bill a happy holiday, and look forward to his safe return at the end of August. During Fr Bill’s absence the Eucharistic Ministers in both parishes will be providing additional services of the Word and Holy Communion. My thanks to them for their generosity.
May our good and generous God bless you now and always.
Frank ofs
Sunday Smile: Young Robert was playing in the cupboard under the stairs when he discovered a dust-covered Bible.
“Mummy, is this God’s book?” he asked.
“Yes, dear,” she replied.
“Then why don’t we send it back to him? We never use it.”