TUESDAY AFTER EPIPHANY - Gospel (Mk 6:34–44) - THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

"Give them some food yourselves." (Mk 6:37)

FIRST READING - 1 John 4:7-10

A reading from the First Letter of John

Beloved, let us love one another,

because love is of God;

everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.

Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.

In this way the love of God was revealed to us:

God sent his only-begotten Son into the world

so that we might have life through him.

In this is love:

not that we have loved God, but that he loved us

and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY - Mark 6:34-44

From the Gospel according to Mark

When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,

for they were like sheep without a shepherd;

and he began to teach them many things.

By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said,

"This is a deserted place and it is already very late.

Dismiss them so that they can go

to the surrounding farms and villages

and buy themselves something to eat."

He said to them in reply,

"Give them some food yourselves."

But they said to him,

"Are we to buy two hundred days' wages worth of food

and give it to them to eat?"

He asked them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see."

And when they had found out they said,

"Five loaves and two fish."

So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass.

The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties.

Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven,

he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples

to set before the people;

he also divided the two fish among them all.

They all ate and were satisfied.

And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments

and what was left of the fish.

Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.

TUESDAY AFTER EPIPHANY - Gospel (Mk 6:34–44)

THE WORD OF GOD FOR EVERYONE

Dear People of God,

Today's Word of God, God reveals to all humanity the supreme power of God and the selfless love of a Merciful Father.

He sees the suffering, hunger, worldliness, and sinfulness of mankind. He cannot bear to abandon mankind. There is no love greater than His for all of mankind. For there is no one who has a love as immense and selfless as God. God desires to call all His children to this image of love.

To overcome the imprisonment, suffering, and death of Satan, God calls on all His children to put love above all else, because without love, it is impossible to defeat Satan!

Through the image of Jesus Christ's love for all humanity, coming from compassion, forgiveness, and mercy, He also calls on all His children to be merciful, to love, and to have compassion and forgiveness towards all members of society and in the Church, without excluding anyone. It is only love that can erase hatred. The only way to forgive, be together, and give is through love, forgiveness, and compassion.

In today's Word of God, God calls all His children to look up to Jesus Christ. He loved, forgave, and compassionately cared for His flock so that they would be healthy physically and spiritually. Love has erased all barriers between humanity and God, love will erase the hatred brought by Satan, and love will erase all sins and all imperfections.

The image of Jesus performing the miracle of multiplying loaves for humanity, proclaiming the reign of God's love for all humankind, is the image of the sacrifice and death of Jesus Christ. He sacrificed Himself to death to become nothing, to bring food to nourish the soul and body of humankind, and to have eternal life, that is the image of Jesus Christ present in the Holy Eucharist.

Today's Word of God calls on all His children to run to the Holy Eucharist Jesus, because He is the food that nourishes the body and soul, He is love.

May His love be engraved in our hearts, and may He come to erase the hatred, divisions, jealousy, selfishness, and sins that Satan imprisons our souls and bodies in the darkness of our suffering.

Come to Him to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ so that He can nourish our bodies and souls to be healthy in His grace and love.

Thanks be to God. Amen.