Tuesday after Epiphany - 7 January 2025
Homily
Today's Gospel is a beautiful expression of Jesus' love for his people. It is the story of the multiplication of the loaves. Jesus did not do it as a sign of power to prove His divinity. He did it out of love. When Jesus saw the crowd, says Mark, He was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd.
First He gives them spiritual nourishment, by teaching them.
Then there is the interesting dialogue between Jesus and His disciples. The disciples think like good businessmen. They tell Jesus to send the people away before dark so that they can go into town and buy food. Jesus tells them to feed the crowd themselves. They start counting how much it's going to cost them. But Jesus tells them to simply share what they have. And after the sharing, there was enough for everyone.
So this reading and the reading from John's letter bring us to the essence of love, which is not just about beautiful sentiments, but about concrete service and effective sharing. And that is the heart of all community life: love, service, sharing.
Armand Veilleux