Tuesday January 5

Tuesday After Epiphany

 

GOD IS LOVE

 

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

(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

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

 

 

“Little is much when God is in it”. Jesus performs a miracle because of his love and compassion for those who came to listen to him. They came in thousands from all the surrounding regions, in search of his preaching and healing. Perhaps, more for healing… they stayed back with him, listening to him. Looking at the huge crowd, pressing for his words of comfort and healing, Jesus is moved with pity.

His actions in feeding the 5000 – “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 – these are the very same actions that Jesus used at the Last Supper when he took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to his disciples. The whole life of Jesus is in fact a repeatition of what he does at the multiplication of the bread. He took on the form of flesh, was baptized in the Holy Spirit, suffered and gave his life for us. The multitudes are being fed on his body and blood.

And he does the same with our lives too: He TAKES us as we are, imperfect, sinful, and selfish. He BLESSES us, while we are still sinners, in spite of our imperfections and self-centeredness. He holds us in his love and compassion, together with all our brokenness and sufferings. And when we respond to his love, He GIVES us to others to witness his love and forgiveness!

That is quite a mission; this act of surrender that Jesus asks of us in ‘remembrance of him’. This act of love, of giving, sharing, helping is not easy. It is often not appreciated, but it is what we are asked to do as Christians. We are to bring Christ to others, as witnesses to his kingdom of love.
Sharing loaves to the hungry may sound clichéd for others, but for the starved, it’s a miracle. Sharing loaves doesn’t limit to it literally. Today, time is the most precious commodity in the market. When we decide to share a part of our time to be of help for someone in need and despair to comfort them- we are sharing our loaves of bread to them. Calling up a relative or friend and asking them of their wellbeing is also sharing our bread for the hungry.
Being kind to the people who seem to be a nuisance is also sharing our loaves. More so, forgiving our selves from our past mistakes and sins is also sharing God’s living bread. From all the miracles we received every day and every moment, may we also be God’s face in sharing what our brothers and sisters need in their struggles as well.