In our first reading from the first letter of John, we are told to love one another, for God is love, and when we love one another, we are begotten by God and we know God. It states that God demonstrated his love for us by sending his son into the world, that we might have life through him. We hear this same message throughout the Gospels, don’t we? Jesus demonstrates this love in many words, actions, and proclamations. A crowd gathers in a village near the sea of Galilee in the Gospel today out of a hunger for meaning, a hunger for something they can believe in, and a hunger to hear God’s word. Jesus sees that the people have a physical hunger as well, staying late in the day at this deserted location, not having a place where they can buy food. Jesus challenges the disciples to try to provide for the people as best they can, to use their own resourcefulness and creativity. God invited the disciples to provide, and then he provided the rest.
Think about the way we approach our faith. Do we just sit back, wanting God to move mountains in our lives, waiting for his actions or a sign from him? Or do we take initiative in our faith, making the effort to do more than just go to mass, to be involved in our faith community and to reach out to our brothers and sisters? So often in our modern world, we can have this sense of entitlement, that we want to be served rather than to serve. As we are in the beginning weeks of the new year, it is good for us to think about how we put more initiative in our faith, how we can infuse God’s love into the way we live out our faith and reach out to others.
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