HONEY FROM THE ROCK”
Monday, 1st August 2016,
Eighteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Memorial of St. Alphonsus Ligouri, Bishop & Doctor of the Church.
Jer: 28:1-17;
Ps: 118:29, 43, 79-80, 95,102;
Mt: 14:13-21
FINDING GOD IN DIFFICULT MOMENTS!
Today we hear about Jesus going to a lonely place, and his miracles of feeding the people. The passage takes us further from the incident of the martyrdom of John the Baptist by Herod. We are not sure how strong was the emotional bond between the Jesus and John, but the very fact that Jesus withdrew to a lonely place shows that 'he needed to be alone'. Jesus chooses a lonely place not to bury but deal with his sorrow and find strength in trying moments. Setting out into lonely, deserted places is what we should also do when struggling with faith, with life in general, and with grief in particular. It is where we go to cry, to shout, to get lost, and to search for answers. To get an answer to these questions it not enough to be alone in a lonely place; but more importantly it should be an encounter with God and a place full of God's presence.
When you are with God you cannot but understand the real need of the humanity. At the outset it may simply appear to be a miracle of the feeding but in reality it is nothing but feeding the inner urge for God experience. "And they all ate and were satisfied". Their physical as well as spiritual hungers are satisfied.
Jesus - God on earth, sees their need and hears their cries. He shares healing and hopes and feeds everyone with bread and fish. No one walked away without being filled. There is much more left for those who are in need, "And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces leftover". But this is possible only through human co-operation. God does not require big things to be present. God is always present in the little things. God is found in the deserted places, where we cannot depend on ourselves, and we need to trust. God is most present when we struggle and find ourselves in loneliness. God's love was found on the cross, the most deserted place of them all. Do I feel lost? Do I feel hurt? Am I lonely? Am I in the wilderness searching for answers?
Prayer: O Lord, come to my aid and make haste to help me. Amen.
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