FIRST READING
“God is Love. ”
A reading from the first Letter of Saint John (1 John 4:7- 10)
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 72:1 -2.3-4ab.7-8 (R. see 11)
R/. All nations on earth shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
O God, give your judgement to the king,
to a king’s son your justice,
that he may judge your people in justice,
and your poor in right judgement. R/.
May the mountains bring forth peace for the people,
and the hills justice.
May he defend the poor of the people,
and save the children of the needy. R/.
R/. All nations on earth shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
In his days shall justice flourish,
and great peace till the moon is no more.
He shall rule from sea to sea,
from the River to the bounds of the earth. R/.
ALLELUIA Luke 4: 18
Alleluia. Alleluia. The Lord has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
When Jesus multiplied the loaves, he showed himself as a prophet.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark (Mark 6:34 – 44)
At that time: Jesus saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the hour is now late; send them away, to go into the country and villages round about and buy themselves something to eat.” But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then he commanded them all to sit down by companies upon the green grass. So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.
The Gospel of the Lord.
TODAY’S REFLECTION
While we may use the miracle of the multiplication of loaves to show that, with God, nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37), it equally reminds us of the miraculous effect of love and compassion. As Jesus went on His mission of revealing the mysteries of the kingdom of God, he chose to show compassion by feeding the flock that was following him (Mark 6:34-44). Hence, since it was out of love that God sent his only son into the world (1 John 4:9-10), to love is to reveal the face of God to the world. In the Gospel of john (John 6:5-15), through the generosity of a little boy, a miracle was performed. If we can show a little love to people around us, the world can miraculously be turned into heaven.