By including God in all we do with even with the minimum of resources and skills, God can do wonders and miracles in our life

Good morning good people,

May the Lord give you peace and health in the Holy Spirit.

It is 02nd August 2021.

We reflect on Numbers 11:4-15 and the Gospel of Matthew 14:13-21.

We celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Angels (Portiuncula).  The most endearing place to the heart of St. Francis of Assisi.  This is the place where the Order of Lesser Brothers was begun by St. Francis.  St. Bonaventure suggests, “This place, the holy man loved more than other places in the world; for here he began humbly, here he progressed virtuously, here he ended happily. This place he entrusted to his brothers at his death as the most beloved of the Virgin.”

Our grumbling and complaints do not constrict the goodness of God.

How often do we hear that there are millions of people who go hungry daily around us?  When we concentrate on our comforts and luxurious life, our hearts shrink and harden like a stone that has no positive response to the plight of the poor around.  The desperation of the leaders of today is not like that of Moses. Power needs to be decentralised. Witness the tears of people made Moses feel the emotional burden and personal responsibility for feeding them.  He pleaded God explaining their longing for variety.

Some of us are bored of the Eucharist as the people of Israel were asking for variety and alternative food.  In our spiritual life, we too are looking for a diversion, fancy and a quick fix for the same Sacraments and liturgy we participate in.  Nothing wrong with the leadership of Moses until he made them move away from slavery.  Feeding the hungry becomes a challenge for the community not merely an individual leader’s effort.  God can provide and the leaders can make effort to feed the hungry persons around, but our constant complains, and grumbling pulls the enthusiasm and fervour to feed than to feel a burden.

Unlike Moses, Jesus did not feel it a burden to feed the people.  Jesus took God on board in addressing the lack of sharing among people and initiated by extending a helping hand to thousands of people.  By including God in all we do with even with the minimum of resources and skills, God can do wonders and miracles in our life.  Instead of grumbling and criticizing, let us extend our hands and hearts towards the needy.

Mahatma Gandhi synthesized, “The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.” Yes, we all have enough to feed but not for our personal greed.  Have a day of sharing our meager resources with the marginalized and the poor.  Just because we are not happy and disappointed with our leaders and priests, let us not punish the innocent and the poor.  God bless you.