A MESSAGE FOR THE 4th SUNDAY IN LENT
We began our Lent with the devil tempting our
Lord to turn stones into bread. His
motive in doing so was of course not because he was concerned about our Lord’s
health and happiness. He knew already
that this was no ordinary man and wanted to see if he could trap him into the
selfish act of abandoning his fast and giving in to his lower appetites, in
this case, hunger.
Today our Lord multiplies five barley loaves
into enough bread to feed a multitude of five thousand. The motivation in our Lord’s case was pure
and holy, born out of the love he has for all men, particularly those who love
him and keep his commandments. He saw
that the multitude had followed him up a mountain, and that they would be too
weak to make it back to their homes without some sustenance. And so he fed them all with the five loaves
and two small fishes, a miracle that everyone witnessed when their leftovers
were sufficient to fill twelve baskets.
God loves all his children, it is true, and
will reward, guide and protect from harm those who follow him. I read a story in the news this week about a
tourist in the Bolivian rainforest, who refused to take part in a pagan
ceremony honoring the goddess Pachamama (Mother Earth), and ran off into the
jungle. Here he became lost and was not
found for nine days. The only reason he
survived was because a troop of monkeys threw fruit down for him from the
trees, and led him every day to water and shelter. God used those monkeys to protect the man who
refused to break the First Commandment.
There’s a very obvious moral to this
story. If we follow God, he will protect
us. If we do not, we cannot be
guaranteed of that protection. From this
arises the simple question: Do I follow
Christ? Am I doing my best to know, love
and serve him in this life? If the
answer is no, then your immortal soul is in peril.
The good news is that you’re not dead yet, so
you may yet save your soul. Open your
hearts to God’s graces, follow his commandments closely and to the best of your
ability. And above all, take advantage
of the great gift he has given us of the Bread of Life that we receive every
Sunday in Holy Communion. Let this be
the highlight of your week, without which you experience the desolation of being
far from God and abiding in the darkness instead of under the shadow of the
Almighty.
No comments:
Post a Comment