Jesus inspires Us To Feed Others

^{Mark 6: 34-44} 

^{The Feeding of the 5,000}

³⁴ As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. ³⁵ When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; ³⁶ send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” ³⁷ But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸ And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” When they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” ³⁹ Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. ⁴¹ Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² And all ate and were filled; ⁴³ and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴ Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

Feeding the hungry is a corollary to "Love Thy Neighbor."  Hunger is not pretty, yet remains a major problem in our world today.  There's nothing so motivating and sad as to listen to a family or an individual crying because of hunger pains.  Before his audience reached that stage, Jesus solved the problem and left us with an example that applies not only to physical hunger but also spiritual hunger.  It takes awhile before the emptiness of that hunger causes pain, but when it reaches the breaking point it can lead to a spiritual awakening, a conversion.

St. Elizabeth Anne Seton, whose memorial we observe today, experienced such a hunger when she was left a widow with seven children. She embraced the Catholic Faith, and later answered to call to educate children in the Faith as well as in secular subjects.  This led her to found the Sisters of Charity, noted for their fine schools throughout our country.  "Small beginnings, greater ends", as Donovan wrote in his song, "Take  Your Time, Go Slowly."  How can I feed my hunger today?  How can I feed the hunger of those around me?

Bro. Rene