“Daring to move out of the ‘zone of limitation’ and trust in the Lord!”
(Based on Gen 3:9-24 and Mk 8:1-10 – Saturday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1)
Two Christian friends were talking about their life experiences.
One of them said: “It is so very hard to trust God and to realize that His Hand is still leading us in the dark phases of our life!”
“Well”, said the other, “if you cannot trust a person out of sight, then he/she is not worth much!
And if you cannot trust God in the dark, it simply shows… you don’t trust Him at all!”
That’s quite a point, isn’t it?
We find our Christian Faith often on an easy course, when things go on well.
But when difficulties come our way, our “trust” level is questioned.
It is in these “questionable moments of trust” that we tend to enter into a “zone of limitation”
The Gospel presents to us the very familiar passage of the multiplication of loaves…
… the multiplication of seven loaves and a few small fish for about four thousand people, as recounted by St Mark.
A great crowd was with the Lord…
… and seeing the massive crowd, the Lord had compassion on them, and asked the disciples to give them something to eat…
“I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way – and some of them have come from a great distance.” (Mk 8:2-3)
These words reveal the tender and compassionate Heart of our Blessed Lord…
… His great care and concern for everyone
… His sensitivity to the needs and hunger of all
It’s this compassionate Heart of the Lord that also challenged the disciples to, in turn, become compassionate to the crowds.
But as is the case often in life… “Challenges are usually met with opposition, resistance… and even grumbling!”
The disciples began to question and put forth their difficulty to the Lord: “How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?” (Mk 8:4)
“How can we”… is a question that we often ask…
… in times of struggles and strains
… in moments of troubles and toils
It’s here that the Lord teaches us the beautiful and powerful lesson for every Christian: “If you cannot trust a person out of sight, then he/she is not worth much!”
With immense faith and authority… the Lord “ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; and He took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks, He broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd.
They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he ordered that these too should be distributed” (Mk 8:6-7)
Jesus is a picture of perfect calm and in total control of the situation!
And this IS Faith!
This IS Trust!
All of us are invited to have this faith and trust… in the Lord!
All of us are invited to have this dependence and reliance… on the Lord!
Jesus – our Compassionate Lord and the Epitome of Faith exhorts and challenges all of us:
- Be a compassionate and merciful person, being sensitive to the needs of the other and translating your good thoughts into noble actions
- Depend and Trust on the Lord at all times – even when the “bread and the fish” of life seem to be too minimal before the “crowd” of difficulties and challenges!
Yes, we will have moments in our life which makes us to complain:
“It is so very hard to trust God and to realize that His Hand is still leading us in the dark phases of our life!”
But we are reminded by the Gospel of the Day:
“If you cannot trust a person out of sight, then he/she is not worth much!
And if you cannot trust God in the dark, it simply shows… you don’t trust Him at all!”
Let us dare to move out of the “zone of limitation” and trust the Lord…
… knowing He is always with us – caring, loving and providing…
… and thus sing with the Psalmist: “O Lord, You have been our refuge, from one generation to the next” (Ps 90:1)
God Bless! Live Jesus!
Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism:
CHRIST – THE UNIQUE WORD OF SACRED SCRIPTURE
In order to reveal himself to men, in the condescension of His Goodness, God speaks to them in human words.
Through all the words of Sacred Scripture, God speaks only one single Word – His One Utterance in Whom He expresses Himself completely
For this reason, the Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord’s Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the bread of life…
… taken from the one table of God’s Word and Christ’s Body
In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, “but as what it really is, the word of God”
Reflection Capsules 