Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

Gospel: Mark 6:34-44
As Jesus went ashore, he saw a large crowd, and he had compassion on them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.It was now getting late, so his disciples came to him and said, “This is a lonely place and it is now late. You should send the people away, and let them go to the farms and villages around here, to buy themselves something to eat.” Jesus replied, “You, yourselves, give them something to eat.” They answered, “If we are to feed them, we need two hundred silver coins to go and buy enough bread.” But Jesus said, “You have some loaves; how many? Go and see.”The disciples found out and said, “There are five loaves and two fish.”Then he told them to have the people sit down, together in groups, on the green grass. This they did, in groups of hundreds and fifties.

And Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish and, raising his eyes to heaven, he pronounced a blessing, broke the loaves, and handed them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them.They all ate and everyone had enough. The disciples gathered up what was left, and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces of bread and fish. Five thousand men had eaten there.

Reflections
“You, yourselves, give them something to eat.”Behind each miracle there is a lurking question: Why this one? If Jesus could feed a multitude with five loaves and two fish, why not feed every crowd? Why not feed the whole world? One answer, of course, is that Jesus did not come to rectify all our problems from above, but to in­ augurate what Pope Francis has called a “revolution of tender­ness.” This begins from below— with the spirit of mercy, solidar­ity, and fellow ­feeling.The saints did not begin with large budgets and fund­raising schemes. They began with faith and the means at hand, trus­ting that God would make the increase. They did not assume that their charitable programs— caring for the sick, feeding the hungry, or rescuing orphans— would single­handedly resolve large social issues. But they brought their faith, their vision, their resolve, with confidence that God could take these small loaves and fishes and multiply them.We may look around the world and see the overwhel­ming magnitude of suffering and human need. Why doesn’t someone do something about this? Why doesn’t God do something about this? He answers: “You yourselves, give them something to eat.” That is how God’s miracles begin.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25
When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum, a town by the lake of Galilee, at the border of Zebulun and Naphtali.In this way, the word of the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, crossed by the Road of the Sea; and you, who live beyond the Jordan, Galilee, land of pagans:The people who lived in darkness have seen a great light; on those who live in the land of the shadow of death, a light has shone.From that time on, Jesus began to proclaim his message, “Change your ways: the kingdom of heaven is near.”Jesus went around all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing all kinds of sickness and disease among the people.

The news about him spread through the whole of Syria; and the people brought all their sick to him, and all those who suffered: the possessed, the deranged, the paralyzed; and he healed them all. Large crowds followed him from Galilee and the Ten Cities, from Jerusalem, Judea, and from across the Jordan.

Reflections
“The kingdom of heaven is near.”
The arrest of John the Bap­tist marks a significant turn in the gospel “plot.” For Jesus, this marks the signal to begin his own ministry, while also fore­ shadowing the ultimate price he will pay. Understandably, he is moved to withdraw “into Gali­lee,” perhaps to discern his next steps. Those who arrested John had hoped they were silencing his proclamation. But they soon learn their mistake, when Jesus steps forward to repeat the very words from John’s lips: “Change your ways: the kingdom of hea­ven is near.”But if there is continuity with John’s mission, there is also something new. If John delivered a message of coming judgment, Jesus’ proclamation is tempered by works of mercy and compassion: not only the sick, but “the possessed, the deranged, the paralyzed” are healed. In “curing all kinds of sickness and disease” Jesus is ad­vancing far beyond John’s message; the “kingdom of heaven” is not simply “near” but is actually breaking forth in Jesus’ words and deeds.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in Judea, during the days of king Herod, wise men from the East arrived in Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw the rising of his star in the East and have come to honor him.”When Herod heard this he was greatly disturbed, and with him all Jerusalem. He immediately called a meeting of all high­ ranking priests and teachers of the law, and asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In the town of Bethlehem in Judea,” they told him, “for this is what the prophet wrote: And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least among the clans of Judah, for from you will come a leader, onewho is to shepherd my people Israel.

”Then Herod secretly called the wise men and asked them the precise time the star appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem with these instructions, “Go and get accurate information about the child. As soon as you have found him, report to me, so that I, too, may go and honor him.”After the meeting with the king, they set out. The star that they had seen in the East went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. The wise men were overjoyed on seeing the star again. They went into the house, and when they saw the child with Mary his mother, they knelt and worshiped him. They opened their bags and offered him their gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. In a dream they were warned not to go back to Herod, so they returned to their home country by another way.

Lectio Divina
READ: Though the world is still in darkness, Isaiah heralds the coming dawn of God’s day. According to Paul, this dawn is not only for Israel but for all the nations. That new day is signaled by a rising star—which the wise men follow. But for Herod, a new day signals a threat to his power.
REFLECT: New beginnings hold promise for those who live in hope. But what of those who hold power and privilege or benefit from the status quo? For them, the promise of change can be threatening. Thus, for King Herod news of a “newborn king” fills him with dread. God promises to make all things new. For those on the margins this is cause for rejoicing. For the rest, we are challenged to let go of attachments, to leave our old country, and follow where God is leading us.
PRAY: God, let me arise and welcome your new day.
ACT: Reflect on frightening experiences of change in your life; where was God present in those experiences?

Gospel: John 1:43-51
The next day, Jesus decided to set off for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets: he is Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said of him, “Here comes an Israelite, a true one; there is nothing false in him.”

Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” And Jesus said to him,“Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree, and I saw you.” Nathanael answered, “Master, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!” But Jesus replied, “You believe because I said, ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ But you will see greater things than that.Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Reflections
“We have found the one.”
Jesus comes from a town so obscure that it is the punch line for jokes: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” But it takes very little for Nathanael to change his mind about the mys­terious stranger:“Master, you are the Son of God!” he proclaims. What causes this sudden change of heart? Was it Jesus’ appa­rent clairvoyance in seeing him under a fig tree? Jesus’ words evidently convey more to Natha­nael than we can know: a capa­city not merely to perceive his location but to read and weigh the value of his heart. Even still, as Jesus notes, the disciple will see “greater things than that.” As John notes in his epistle, “God is greater than our con­science and he knows every­thing.” John measures the con­tent of a heart that lives in the truth and opens itself in love to­ ward those who are in need. And yet the followers of Jesus will witness greater love than this: “He gave his life for us.” It follows that “we, too, ought to give our life for our brothers and sisters.”

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019