\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Put yourself in the shoes of the boy in today’s Gospel.\u00c2\u00a0 You see, you have 5 small barley loaves and two fish that your mother packed for lunch.\u00c2\u00a0 They were just meant for you.\u00c2\u00a0 Then, you see some men around you discussing how to feed 5000 people in the crowd.\u00c2\u00a0 So, you, a small boy who has been following Jesus, offer your lunch up.\u00c2\u00a0 The people of this world would think of you as a fool.\u00c2\u00a0 They would be shocked, angry, and skeptical that Jesus would take a meager lunch from the boy as well.\u00c2\u00a0 After all, Jesus disciples even said “But what are these among so many”.\u00c2\u00a0 But you offered them up with generosity, hoping and trusting that Jesus would make a difference.\u00c2\u00a0 And Jesus did make a difference.\u00c2\u00a0 We know that from the meager assets that this one small boy had, God provided for his people with plenty left over.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was the same in the story about Elisha.\u00c2\u00a0 In the midst of a famine in Elisha’s town, someone arrives with a few barley loaves.\u00c2\u00a0 Now barley loaves were typically small, and simply would not go very far.\u00c2\u00a0 But, trusting in God, Elisha feeds 100 people with them.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, both the Gospel and the Old Testament story about Elisha make a similar point.\u00c2\u00a0 The gifts we are given are not just for our benefit, but rather, we are entrusted with them as stewards.\u00c2\u00a0 They are meant to be used for the greater glory of God at the right time and place as chosen by God, and we need to trust in God’s providence that things will work out even when it seems unlikely.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, the question that comes to mind is this:\u00c2\u00a0 Which loaves and fish is God asking you to entrust to his care today, right now?\u00c2\u00a0 What do you have that you are being called to share with others for the greater glory of God?\u00c2\u00a0 Is it your time?\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe God has been whispering to you for a while, asking you to spend some more time with him each day in prayer, or in reading a good spiritual book, or in reflecting on the Bible. \u00c2\u00a0You may be busy with the cares of life, so you feel you don’t have the time!\u00c2\u00a0 But God can work wonders with whatever little bit of time you do give him.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the other hand, maybe it’s some special talent you have.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe God has put a desire in your heart to do something for him or for your neighbor, to start something new, to reach out to those in need. \u00c2\u00a0But you have been afraid of trying, or are afraid of failing.\u00c2\u00a0 Rest assured though, God can multiply whatever little talent you have, if you just put it sincerely and obediently into his hands.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe it’s a gift to you which is as simple as the ability to provide a little talk.\u00c2\u00a0 Possibly there is someone in your life that you need to speak to – to speak a word of forgiveness, or an apology, or possibly an invite back to the Church.\u00c2\u00a0 Or maybe they just need a word of encouragement to walk away from some destructive behavior.\u00c2\u00a0 God could help you to know the right thing to say, to turn your words into seeds of grace, if only you place them in his hands, and take a chance.\u00c2\u00a0 Whatever it is, God can work miracles with whatever you have that you place in his trust.\u00c2\u00a0 It happens at the most unexpected times, and in the most unexpected circumstances.\u00c2\u00a0 Like the small boy whose lunch feeds 5000 people, or the man who offers a gift of the first fruits to a prophet, and it breaks a terrible famine for the prophet’s people.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
And it happens in our day and age too.\u00c2\u00a0 There was once an old Christian Chinese man named Yo-San.\u00c2\u00a0 He worked in the rice fields and lived alone in poverty in a boat on a river.\u00c2\u00a0 He came to the missionary one day and said, “Father, wouldn’t it be good if we could have a real church instead of the wooden hut?”\u00c2\u00a0 “Indeed it would,” the priest answered, “but it will take us a long time to raise the money.”\u00c2\u00a0 “Father,” said Yo-San, “I would like to pay for the building of a new church.”\u00c2\u00a0 Yo-San then produced the actual amount of cash needed to build the Church.\u00c2\u00a0 The priest was astounded, and so Yo-San explained.\u00c2\u00a0 Years ago, when he was a young man just receiving his first instruction in the faith, he had heard the priest that the purpose of our life is to give glory to God.\u00c2\u00a0 Hearing this, he conceived the desire to someday build a temple to God’s name.\u00c2\u00a0 So, for forty years, living with no family and no house, he had managed to lay aside most of his scanty wages, which he now offered to the priest.\u00c2\u00a0 The priest objected to the gift, seeing that Yo-San was old and would soon need the money to support himself.\u00c2\u00a0 But Yo San said that God would take care of him, and begged the Father to grant his life-long desire.\u00c2\u00a0 The priest finally consented. \u00c2\u00a0The church was built and it was standing-room-only when the first Mass was celebrated there.\u00c2\u00a0 After the Mass, Yo-San stayed kneeling in the beautiful little church for a long time.\u00c2\u00a0 That afternoon he was found lifeless, still kneeling – his heart broken with joy and gratitude.\u00c2\u00a0 Indeed, Yo-San was a man who understood the real value of offering our poor efforts to God.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00c2\u00a0 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2 Kgs 4: 42-44; Eph 4: 1-6; Jn 6: 1-15 Dc. Larry Brockman Put yourself in the shoes of the boy in today’s Gospel.\u00c2\u00a0 You see, you have 5 small barley loaves and two fish that your mother packed for lunch.\u00c2\u00a0 They were just meant for you.\u00c2\u00a0 Then, you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}