Jesus Feeds The Five Thousand

JANUARY 04, 2022, TUESDAY
TUESDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious (White)
CYCLE C - YEAR II
Lectionary: 213

Reading I
1 Jn 4:7-10

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.

Responsorial Psalm
72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8

R.    (see 11)  Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

O God, with your judgment endow the king,

    and with your justice, the king’s son;

He shall govern your people with justice

    and your afflicted ones with judgment.

R.    Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

The mountains shall yield peace for the people,

    and the hills justice.

He shall defend the afflicted among the people,

    save the children of the poor.

R.    Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

Justice shall flower in his days,

    and profound peace, till the moon be no more.

May he rule from sea to sea,

    and from the River to the ends of the earth.

R.    Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

Alleluia
Lk 4:18

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

The Lord has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor

and to proclaim liberty to captives.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Mk 6:34-44

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.

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

Their hopes were dashed when they found thousands there ahead of them. Out of compassion Jesus puts the people’s needs first. He calls on the Twelve to share their food, to serve these thousands and then to ensure no food is wasted. Serious lessons that with their hard hearts they were slow to take in.

The feeding of the five thousand speaks of the generosity of God and his kindness towards us. When God gives, he gives abundantly. He gives us more than we need for ourselves so that we can share with those who lack what they need.

PRAYER:

Jesus, you satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts. Fill me with gratitude for your blessings. Give me a generous heart that I may freely share what you have given to me.