MIRACLE OF MORE
Today’s Gospel about the multiplication of the loaves can be called a Miracle of More. Jesus cured many who were sick, blind, deformed, mute, and lame. They kept coming. After three days of more and more people coming, he was moved with compassion to feed them all. I wonder what the disciples felt. They must have turned to Jesus, scratched their heads, struggling to imagine how seven loaves can feed more than 4,000 people. Jesus took what was available, “gave thanks, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.” The disciples must have thought that Jesus was finished. There couldn’t be more, and yet there was more. More than enough to satisfy everyone. That’s the thing about Jesus and how he loves: there is always more.
In every Gospel story of people encountering Jesus, he meets them where they are. He sometimes gives them what they want. He always meets their genuine needs and offers more: greater healing, acceptance, forgiveness, reconnection with community, truth, or life! Today’s narrative shows Jesus fulfilling the divine promise to care for God’s people in surprisingly overflowing ways.
Like many people, these pandemic months have brought many losses in my life. Yet, there have also been overwhelmingly abundant blessings through Christus Ministries. My Team and I sense a clear call to be like the disciples, handing more spiritual food by receiving them from Jesus. The goodness of many friends, partners, and supporters like you through the Giving Tuesday donations is for us, a Miracle of More. Thank you. Thank God!
What more is God offering you today? That may involve opening your heart to admit truth, forgiveness, or sharing more? Or it may be believing in God’s incredible goodness and living it out by reaching out to someone in need? Might God be offering us more than what we want or need, beyond our myopic vision, narrow hearts, and fearful reactions? Might the political divide in society, or the Catholic culture wars about who’s worthy to receive the Eucharist or how to accept people who are black or homosexuals in our Churches be an invitation to encounter a God less limiting and small?
Lord, help me to recognize, receive, and respond to the more you are offering me this Advent.