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Gospel Reading for May 02, 2025 – John 6: 1-15
LIVING THE WORD.
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
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They say you cannot listen to a homily on an empty stomach or you cannot serve God on an empty stomach. Somehow, the hungry person will find a way to fill his stomach or to feed his family even in a wrong manner.
One of the prerequisites to be among the sheep at the last judgment is TO FEED THE HUNGRY. We can say all good things about the Word of God. We can make the best homilies ever, but if we do not care about those who have nothing to eat or those who despite their efforts are unable to find a job that will earn enough to feed a family, then we are not really LIVING THE WORD.
We cannot say we are Church, the family of God, a community that believes in God, if there are those among our members who have nothing or nothing substantial to eat. The practice of AYUDA during the pandemic was really GOD’S WORD IN ACTION.
Lord Jesus, may we always be like you, thoughtful of those in need around us, as our way of showing our gratitude for everything you have given us!
