Welcome back. I love this time we get to reflect upon the gospels together. Today's gospel is from Luke, Chapter 9, verses 11 through 17. Let's just take a moment, take a breath, relax into it. Remember we're looking for a word or a phrase or an idea that God uses to capture our attention, that the Holy Spirit directs us towards so that we can live the gospel in some practical way today. When the crowds learned it, they followed Jesus and he welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing. Now the day began to wear away and the twelve came and said to him, "Send the crowds away to go into the villages and country around about to lodge and get provisions. For we are here in a lonely place." But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we had to go and buy food for all these people." For there were about 5,000 men. And Jesus said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in companies, about 50 each," and they did so and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, Jesus looked up to heaven and blessed and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And everyone ate and everyone was satisfied. And they took up what was left over, 12 baskets of broken pieces.
What is it that jumped out at you today? When the crowds learned, what did the crowds learn? They learned what Jesus was. What's there, right? There's an eagerness to follow Jesus. There's an eagerness to be with Jesus. We ask ourselves today, do we have that eagerness? Do we have an eagerness to work out where Jesus is? Where is Jesus? Do you know where the nearest tabernacle is to you right now? Where is the nearest true presence of Jesus in this world to you right now? They had this eagerness to know where Jesus was, to be with him, to follow him. Maybe that's what God is calling us to today, to develop that eagerness. And we read on. "He welcomed them." Jesus welcomed them. How is Jesus feeling? He probably feeling tired. Imagine 5,000 people, all right? Imagine 5,000 dirty, smelly, dusty, broken, needy people, all crowded around Jesus, all of them wanting something. How would you react? I know how I would react. Jesus welcomed them. I probably wouldn't be in such a welcoming mood, but Jesus welcomed them. And he spoke to them. What he speaks to them about you speak to them about the cricket, the football, the basketball, the baseball, the weather? No, [he?] spoke to them about the kingdom of God. What do we speak to people about? When's the last time you spoke to somebody about the kingdom of God? And he cured those who had need of healing. It's an interesting turn of phrase, those who had need of healing, because when you really think of it, who doesn't have need of healing? I got need of healing. You've got need of healing. We've all got need of healing. He cured those who had need of healing. And who have you cured today, or who will you cure today? And you think to yourself, "[Man?], I can't cure nobody." Well, that isn't true, right? I mean, you can cure people of their hunger. You can cure people of their loneliness. There's lots of ways we can participate in curing people, in healing people. Now the day began to wear away. It's a beautiful phrase, isn't it? The day began to wear away. What are the 12 doing? They're anxious, okay? They are. The twelve are in this worldly mindset. Jesus is constantly trying to pull them out of this worldly mindset. They are stuck in this worldly mindset. The day began to wear away. And the 12 came to Jesus and said send the crowd away so they can get some food and somewhere to sleep. We're in a lonely place. There's nothing out here, Jesus. But Jesus said to them-- Jesus is just this calm presence, isn't it? It's like, "Relax, guys." You give [them?] something to eat.
Disciples are probably thinking, "Jesus, are you crazy? We've got like five loaves, two fish. We've got nothing. You expect us to go and buy food for all these people? That'll cost a fortune". So you just see, turn after turn after turn, there's this back and forth between Jesus and his disciples. And his disciples are stuck in this worldly mindset. We can't go and buy food for all these people. Send them away. Jesus said to his disciples, "Have the people sit down. Put them in groups of 50." What does he do? He takes the five loaves, the two fish, looks up to Heaven, blesses them, breaks them, and feeds the people, demonstrates to the disciples once again, "Guys, you've got to get out of this worldly mindset. We're playing at a different level here. This is something completely different to anything you've seen ever before. Got to get out of that worldly mindset." And what is he saying to us? Same thing, right? We get in that worldly mindset.
And what is the thing or the motion or the feeling or the disposition that the disciples were possessed with throughout this reading? I would say anxiety. They were anxious. They were anxious, like, "Where are these people going to sleep? What are these people going to eat? We're out here in the middle of nowhere. And then we've only got the fish and two fish and the five loaves. We don't have enough. And we can't go and buy them all stuff." And there's just this anxiety. And at each turn, Jesus just responds with this calm self-assurance that he has everything under control. It's good to remember that. He has everything under control. It's good to remember that.
It's good for us to take a few minutes each day in prayer and remember he's got everything under control. We might not understand it. We might not see it right now, but he's got everything under control. When we think that we have to have things under control. that is overwhelming, and that drives anxiety, massive anxiety. When we think we've got to control things, we've got to make things happen, that drives anxiety. Jesus got it all under control. And so he's inviting us to live with him in that calm, in that confidence, that he's got it all under control. Have a great day. And remember, be bold. Be Catholic.
