Gospel: John
6:1-15
Jesus
went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the
signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there
he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When
Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to
Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test
him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two
hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have
a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to
him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what
good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there
was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five
thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed
them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When
they had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left
over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled
twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been
more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This
is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew
that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew
again to the mountain alone.
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Reflection:
Do you thirst
for the spotlight after you’ve done something important? More often than not it’s
yes! We all want to be in the spotlight we want attention and honor given to
us. But how did Jesus handle Himself after miraculously feeding the five thousand who were following them? Jesus simply
walked away from them all and went to the mountain to be alone with God.
Jesus was
supposed to be proclaimed king by those He fed.
But Jesus did not want that kind of worldly honor what was important for Jesus was He did what He is expected to do. Jesus is so unlike with all of us,
we who always thirst for honor and recognition. Are we not thirsty for honor
and recognition? Yes we thirst for it!
By His action
of avoidance of recognition and honor Jesus is teaching us humility. He is
teaching us that after we have done our part for the greater glory of God it’s
time to move on. It’s time to silently evaporate from the prying eyes of the
crowd and be alone with God so that God could strengthen us and make us more
humble.
Let us
not look for the spotlight when we serve God or when we do things for God. Let
us be content to silently fade away and let the goodness of God create a
lasting impression in the hearts of those that we serve.
Authentic
service for God and His people is always achieved with humility and never with
the desire to be in the limelight or spotlight. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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