5th SATURDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Mark 8:1-10) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
- NHA CHUA CHA
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
FIRST READING - 1 Kgs 12:26-32, 13:33-34
"The king took counsel and made two calves of gold."
A reading from the First Book of Kings
26 Jeroboam thought to himself: “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. 27 If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, the hearts of this people will return to their master, Rehoboam, king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam, king of Judah.” 28 The king took counsel, made two calves of gold, and said to the people: “You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” 29 And he put one in Bethel, the other in Dan.[a] 30 This led to sin, because the people frequented these calves in Bethel and in Dan. 31 He also built temples on the high places and made priests from among the common people who were not Levites.
[b] 32 Jeroboam established a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month like the pilgrimage feast in Judah, and he went up to the altar. He did this in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. He stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places he had built.
33 Even after this, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again made priests for the high places from among the common people. Whoever desired it was installed as a priest of the high places. 34 This is the account of the sin of the house of Jeroboam for which it was to be cut off and destroyed from the face of the earth.
GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Mk 8:1-10
"They ate and were satisfied."
✠From the Gospel according to Mark
[a] 1 In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, he summoned the disciples and said, 2 “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.” 4 His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?” 5 Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” “Seven,” they replied. 6 [b]He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. 7 They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also. 8 They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over—seven baskets. 9 There were about four thousand people.
He dismissed them 10 and got into the boat with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
5th SATURDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Gospel (Mark 8:1-10)
THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE
Dear people of God,
Today's Word of God speaks of His love for His sheep and for His apostles.
God loves all people; He does not discriminate against anyone, and He wants His disciples to also have a heart that is moved with compassion for their brothers and sisters.
He wants everyone to pray: "May the heart of the Lord be placed in my heart, so that I may live, but not I, but Christ lives in me."
For when one has the heart of God, then one will know how to love the sick as the Lord loved them, and each day strive to live according to the Lord's teachings.
Today's Word of God tells us that the people stayed with the Lord for three days to listen to His teachings without eating or drinking anything.
Here, the Lord wants to emphasize that when we come to God, we need to be closely connected with Him, and not be concerned about material things that nourish the body, because it is the Spirit of God that will nourish humanity. Next is the multiplication of the loaves by Jesus. With only seven loaves, the Lord performed a miracle and fed about four thousand people, and there were still seven baskets left over.
Today is the age of the Holy Spirit, who is always active in every stage and in every different environment.
When the Holy Spirit is active, the Holy Trinity is always present: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit working together, intimately united as one; three Persons but one God.
Before performing the miracle of multiplying the loaves, Jesus gave thanks to God the Father, then took the bread, broke it, and gave it to the disciples so that they could share it with everyone.
He also wants to emphasize the Sacrament of the Eucharist in the daily Mass. He calls upon everyone to know how to give thanks to God, to become a small loaf of bread before God, and to be broken and given to others.
That bread is not made by man, but is created by God himself and given as a gift of grace.
When someone receives grace from God, they must also know how to break it and give it to others; in breaking it, they must endure pain, just as Jesus suffered pain, humiliation, and death, so too must His disciples suffer pain and humiliation so that the bread may become pure, complete, and pleasing to God.
The Lord's words are being fulfilled in this time, concerning the grace of casting out demons and the grace of healing that God bestows upon the priests, Chu Thien Thuong, and all those in the Army of Light, as well as all who believe in God.
When God bestows that grace, everyone must be like loaves of bread, broken and given to others.
Therefore, when receiving demons from patients, those who receive demons must also suffer physically, make sacrifices, endure humiliation, be humble, lose everything, and offer everything to God in order to work for Him.
Chu Thien Thuong and the priests also have to make sacrifices, give up everything to work for God and become bread that is broken and given to everyone.
Regarding God's power, seeing only His shadow, demons must submit and flee; but why does God bestow the grace upon humanity, so that people may cooperate with Him?
People must give thanks to God because He always creates opportunities for people to work with Him; for working for God is to atone for one's own sin.
Therefore, people must always give thanks to God and live humbly before God and before their brothers and sisters every day of their lives so that they may enjoy peace and happiness in this life and the next in Heaven.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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