In our Gospel reading today, we begin a journey through John 6. Later in the chapter we will be reading and reflecting on the Bread of Life discourse, Jesus’ principle teaching on the Eucharist. But at the beginning of John 6, we read today about a miraculous feeding of the multitudes. Coincidence? I think not. Jesus feeds the people with natural food, then later tells them about how He will feed them (and us) with supernatural food.
A very cool story today in our first reading from Acts 5. A great teacher, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, gets up in front of the Sanhedrin and speaks about these men who are teaching in the name of Jesus. He says this, “If this endeavor or this activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself. But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.” Wise words from a wise teacher. (By the way…Saul [aka St. Paul] was a student of Gamaliel.)
Isn’t this the case with most everything in our lives? We find that if something we undertake is of human origin, meaning that we want something for ourselves, it will fail. But if it comes from God, meaning we are undertaking the task to serve Him, God will bless it. Sometimes it is very difficult to discern. There will be times when our hearts are in the right place and we truly feel like we’re serving God, but then things go south. I’m a believer that God has another plan, a better plan, when things like that happen. Remember, when God closes a door, he’ll open a window.
Father, help us to always do your will. If something is not within your will, let it fail. And help us to find the blessings in all things. Amen.
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