Tuesday January 8, 2019
Introduction
Here comes the great theme of the apostle John, almost like an obsession, both in his letter and in the gospel: God is the origin of all love. For he is love: a love that is giving, a love, as the gospel shows, that is compassionate. Self-communication is the mark of love: within God, from God to people and the world. He gives us his Son, who showed in his person that to love is to give up oneself out of love. And on the part of people, love means also to receive, to be willing to accept love as a pure gift, both from God and from one another.
Opening Prayer
Lord God, our Father,
you took the initiative of loving us
before we could ever love you,
for love is your name
and you are a God of people.
Help us to recognize this love
become flesh in Jesus your Son.
Let him stir and transform
the very depths of our hearts,
that we too may offer to you and to people
all the love of which you have made us capable
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Reading 1: 1 Jn 4:7-10
Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.
In this way the love of God was revealed to us:
God sent his only-begotten Son into the world
so that we might have life through him.
In this is love:
not that we have loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8
R. (see 11) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The mountains shall yield peace for the people,
and the hills justice.
He shall defend the afflicted among the people,
save the children of the poor.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Alleluia: Lk 4:18
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Lord has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor
and to proclaim liberty to captives.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Mk 6:34-44
When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.
By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said,
"This is a deserted place and it is already very late.
Dismiss them so that they can go
to the surrounding farms and villages
and buy themselves something to eat."
He said to them in reply,
"Give them some food yourselves."
But they said to him,
"Are we to buy two hundred days' wages worth of food
and give it to them to eat?"
He asked them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see."
And when they had found out they said,
"Five loaves and two fish."
So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass.
The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties.
Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples
to set before the people;
he also divided the two fish among them all.
They all ate and were satisfied.
And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments
and what was left of the fish.
Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.
Intercessions
– For the Churches groping for unity, that one day they may eat together from the same table the one bread of the Lord, we pray:
– For all people of good will, that they may build up together a just society based on fairness and love where there is no room for any discrimination, we pray:
– For all of us here, that we may form a community of service, love and hope, open to all needs and all just aspirations, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord God, loving Father,
in every eucharistic celebration
you let us experience again and again
your self-giving love.
Accept in this bread and this wine
our own meager efforts
to become to people
bread broken and shared,
together with Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord, our God and Father,
accept our thanks for loving us
even before we could love you.
Prepare us not only to give love
but also to receive it
from you and from one another
in all simplicity and gratitude.
For this is the way you taught us
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Blessing
We have broken bread with the Lord. This commits us to call on all human resources to share with those in need food, justice, culture and freedom. May God strengthen and bless you for this task, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
The story of the loaves and fish has been heard so often that we might think it needs little retelling. But there is a single verse in the reading from the letter of John that gives meaning to the Gospels as a whole. “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might five through him.”
A real appreciation for that verse opens fully the door of Christian faith. In short, we do not live justly to win God’s favor. God’s favor was won before we were even conscious of it, and through no effort of ours. Since God’s favor has touched us, our love is simply reciprocal. Many people see the Christian life as an endless effort to get somewhere. But the truth of the matter is that we are already there. We were the recipients of that love before we were even aware of it.
Today’s Gospel, then, is a perfect fit. It is hard to escape the eucharistic allusions that can be heard in that narrative. As hap¬pens at each Eucharist, Jesus takes the loaves, blesses and distrib¬utes them. Of course, the event itself was not a Eucharist, but the evangelist reminds us that we are no less privileged than those people in the desert. At every Mass, we are truly nourished by the Lord as we feed on his sacramental body and blood. What greater sign of our being favored and loved?
What is vitally important is that we bring that love of God to others. To bring communion to the sick is a very singular ministry. In that act, the presence of Christ is complemented by our own charity in an outreach to the less fortunate (whether in sickness, poverty, or some other misfortune). Christ is telling us that where our feet go, he can go; where our eyes see, he can see; where our ears hear, he can hear. For this reason, it is important to realize that God’s love flows into us before it ever makes its return to God.
Points to Ponder
God loved us first
Eucharist as God’s concern for us
Ministering to the disabled.
