SUGGESTED READING:
JOHN 6: 1-15
In the Gospel reading today
we read about Jesus feeding the 5000 men from 5 loaves of bread and two fish.
It is through Jesus that we receive everything that we need to sustain
ourselves in our lives. Not only does he feed us spiritually but we also can be
provided for in the material sense if we just trust in him; surrendering
everything over to him. We tend to put limits on what Jesus actually can do;
that is why many of the things that he did were seen as miracles. They were
beyond the laws of nature and the accepted limits of a human being. With what we know now, we
should understand that none of these things are beyond the capabilities of what
he can do. So, if that is true, why do we still put limits on him?
As a child has complete trust
in its mother so must we learn to develop that same trust in God. This is a
very important part of our faith experience. A complete surrendering to God
must be necessary if we are to be truly happy in our lives. This becomes a
learning experience. We have a natural distrust of other people and like to
have some sort of control when it comes to decisions and the direction of our
life. It can be said that those who struggle to do this without the influence
of God are not truly happy and are missing something. That something is the
development of the most important relationship they could ever have.
Jesus tells us not to worry
about tomorrow and to surrender everything to him. He will make sure that we
are safe and secure. This is totally opposite to what we have learned most of
our adult lives. We were told that if we work hard we are rewarded. If we work
harder we can get more. Constantly we strive to earn more money thinking that
it will lead to some sort of ultimate happiness. In the end it is impossible to
do so because money and earthly riches have a severe limit: it doesn’t last
forever. Our existence on this earth doesn’t last forever. We are here for a
limited time in the physical sense and must understand that our happiness is
linked forever with a proper and fruitful relationship with God. He is our
Father and our Creator. We cannot limit him to a secondary role in our lives
and try to do everything ourselves.
God will give us everything.
All we have to do is ask. He has the capability to take care of us; to nurture
us and protect us. He wants to love us beyond the way we have experienced love
before. Through Jesus we have been given the opportunity to make ourselves
complete yet we struggle with taking the bread and fish. We do not want to
believe that all we have to do is ask and it will be given to us. We never
thought and maybe still don’t think it is that simple. But it is that simple.
We will be taken care of. We will be loved. We will be sheltered, comforted,
and fed. He will never abandon us. He provided us with the answers. We just
cannot be afraid to ask the questions.
Deacon Tom
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