Daily Catholic Lectio. Tue, 7 January ’25. You give them to eat!

Daily Catholic Lectio

Tue, 7 January ‘25

Tuesday after the Epiphany

1 John 4:7-10. Psalm 72. Mark 6:34-44

You give them to eat!

In today’s Gospel reading, we encounter the miracle of the multiplication of loaves.

At the beginning of the narrative, there is a negative emotion—hunger. While the people were hungry, Jesus stood among them with a positive emotion—empathy.

When the disciples said, “Let them buy food for themselves,” and calculated the denarii required, Jesus challenged them with, “Give them food yourselves.”

When they began to search for the available loaves, the miracle unfolded.

The disciples, who initially said, “We don’t have anything,” started pointing out, “These are available.” They began to take responsibility.

When we take responsibility for our actions, we open ourselves to experiencing God’s miracles.

The assurance that God is empathetic and compassionate toward us consoles and strengthens us.

Often, we say, “We are humans, and we can only do this much.” But have we even done that much? Jesus teaches us that whatever is possible for us, we must do.

We see a similar instance in the resuscitation of Lazarus. Jesus, standing at the tomb, says, “Remove the stone!” Why didn’t Jesus Himself remove the stone through a miraculous act? What is possible for humans must be done by humans.

When we take responsibility for our lives, miracles begin to happen.

Hunger disappears, and abundance comes in. The disciples, who once said, “We have nothing,” gathered the leftovers into twelve baskets.

Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi

Archdiocese of Madurai

Missionary of Mercy