In today’s Gospel, Mark 6:34-44, we read St. Mark’s account of Jesus feeding the five thousand.  Jesus’ heart is moved with pity for the crowd of “lost sheep”, all those who are following Him, and His disciples are concerned about them going hungry.  The disciples ask Jesus to dismiss the people so they can find food for themselves.  Jesus responds by saying, “Give them some food yourselves”, which, of course, they see no way of doing with only five loaves and two fish between them.

In this passage we read about one of our Lord’s greatest miracles as he feeds thousands of people with so little food.  We get a sense of the extent of His pity, His compassion for all people.  Jesus knows they are hungry, that they need food.  But, He also knows they are hungry for spiritual nourishment, hungry for truth and hope, and hungry to be recognized as people with dignity and value – things they’re not getting from the Romans and their own religious leaders.

Normally when I read the accounts of feeding the five thousand (or the four thousand in Mt 15), my thoughts go directly to what I can do to reach out and show love and compassion of my own to those who are suffering in some physical or emotional way, whether that is my wife, a child, a friend, or a co-worker.  Nearly everyone struggles with life in some regard, and empathic compassion can bring comfort. Occasionally, though, I’m driven by feelings of remorse for being distant and realizing I haven’t loved as I should, or that I’ve ignored someone and haven’t made them feel valued.

It’s easy to place ourselves into the scene of this Gospel as one of Jesus’ disciples and wonder what we can do to better love someone else.  But, we too often forget that, like everyone else, we also suffer in many ways.  We fail to see ourselves as one of the five thousand and, while putting others ahead of ourselves is a good thing, we also need some love and compassion from time to time. 

In the first reading for today, 1 Jn 4:7-10, St. John reminds us that “God is love”, and, “He [God] loved us and sent His only Son as expiation for our sins.”  God loves me and He loves you.  He has loved us for all of eternity.  He loves us for who we are despite our sins.  He loves us the same no matter how different we are from each other because He made us in His image.  He wants nothing more than for us to be happy, and the happiest we can be is to be united to Him.  He loves us in our relationships with other people, in the tiny blessings He sends and for which we are too often ungrateful.  He loves us so much that He continues to give Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist!  His love surrounds us each and every moment of every day but we are too busy with life to realize it.  Consequently, it can be too easy to forget to put ourselves in His presence and actively receive His love.

So, today my post-meditation resolution was not to be intentional about finding a way to love someone else as they deserve to be loved.  No, today I resolved to simply spend time loving Jesus and letting Him love me.  My Holy hour of Adoration was at 4:00 p.m., and for an entire hour I gazed at Jesus in the tabernacle and let Him cast His loving gaze on me.  I shared with Him what was on my heart, what I am struggling with, my concerns and desires. And then I let him console me with His love.  It was a beautiful thing!

I’m sure you make time to love other people in some way.  And, I’m sure you make time to express your love for Jesus in some way, either through personal prayer or time in Adoration.  But do you ever intentionally make time to let Jesus love you, and all that is expected of you is to soak it up?  If not, give it a try!  You won’t regret it.

“Lord Jesus, You showed the extent of Your love for me by offering Yourself upon the cross to redeem me of my sins.  You love me enough to supernaturally give me Yourself in the Holy Eucharist.  Lord, You know that in my heart I love You.  But help me to more frequently acknowledge Your love for me by spending time with You, by placing myself in Your presence, and letting You love me. Amen.”

(Let Jesus Love You!, was first published on the blog Reflections of a Lay Catholic)

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