Food For The Journey

In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, 

Mark 8: 1 - 10

Jesus summoned the disciples and said,
“My heart is moved with pity for the crowd,
because they have been with me now for three days
and have nothing to eat.
If I send them away hungry to their homes,
they will collapse on the way,
and some of them have come a great distance.”
His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?”
Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
They replied, “Seven.”
He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground.
Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute,
and they distributed them to the crowd.
They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also. They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over–seven baskets.
There were about four thousand people.
He dismissed the crowd and got into the boat with his disciples
and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

Jesus knew how to keep a crowd's attention.  This crowd of some four thousand people had spent the last three days with Jesus in a deserted place listening to His teaching and being held captive by the wisdom that they were hearing.  No other man taught as Jesus did, He taught with authority and did not just quote learned teachers of the day.  The people, whose life was hard under the rule of the Romans were ready for a Messiah. Now, one of the signs of the Messiah was going to be that He would bring with Him an abundance and in this story we see that Jesus did just that.  He brought an abundance of truth and when He also made sure that the people who had been listening to Him had food for the journey.

Jesus, our Messiah, our Lord, our Saviour has the same compassion for us.  He knows that our journey is a long one and He feeds us from the resources He brings, the Word of His mouth, through the Bible readings we have at every mass and the spiritual food as we feast on His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist.  Jesus brings an abundance to us and He will never let us go hungry or faint while on the journey. The abundance of grace will help us defend ourselves against the snares that the evil one sets for us and from the bad impulses that come from our divided heart and soul because we are human. 

Don't let the significance of what taking communion means.  When you receive you are a close to God as you can be in this world. Don't go back to your seat and pick up the bulletin to read about the pancake breakfast taking place next week.  Don't be rude to your visitor.  Jesus is there, with you, inside you, open your heart so that he can open the treasury of graces that he carries with Him with just you in mind. How many of us take the host and consume it as if it were mere bread?  Be aware of the gift and the giver for He wants to share with you and is waiting for you to allow Him to proceed.

I know I've said this before but sadly not everyone goes directly to heaven when they die. For most of us, Purgatory is a stop along the way. Please pray for your relatives and friends by name.  How many are there in Purgatory that wait for prayers and receive nothing?  Don't let your love stop at the edge of their grave.  Remember too that as they are you may someday be.