In today's gospel a young boy provides only five barley loaves and two dried fish. Yet what an abundance. Carrying through on yesterday's reflection I am reminded of how God can provide from what appears to be very little. It is the two dried fish that strikes me as important today. They would be probably be low on my preference list from a menu and yet look at what they hold when placed in the hands of Jesus.
Sometimes before discerning to follow a call, I count up my assets and find myself lacking in what I think it takes. Sometines we think that it is all up to us and that we have to be able to accomplish something great on our own. There comes a moment in discernment when we need to take the focus off our ourselves and our abilities and rest in God's love and power. We hold back when we feel inadequate. But who is adequate? Only God can supply what is needed for announcing the gospel and bringing the healing of God into lives and the world.
It can be noted that the boy seems to disappear from the story after he offers his gifts. He does not bemoan the meagerness of what he has to offer. He does not remain the center of his own attention. All eyes are on Jesus. All we really need to do is offer and follow through on our offer of self.
Trusting God and not continuing to focus on our own littleness or unworthiness as a hindrance to following our call is a big part of discernment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment