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Acts 5: 34 - 42 |
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34 |
But a Pharisee
in the council named Gama'li-el, a teacher of the law, held in honor by all
the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a while. |
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35 |
And he said to
them, "Men of Israel, take care what you do with these men. |
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36 |
For before
these days Theu'das arose, giving himself out to be somebody, and a number
of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was slain and all who
followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. |
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37 |
After him
Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census and drew away some of
the people after him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered.
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38 |
So in the
present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for
if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; |
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39 |
but if it is
of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing
God!" |
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40 |
So they took
his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and
charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. |
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41 |
Then they left
the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to
suffer dishonor for the name. |
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42 |
And every day
in the temple and at home they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus
as the Christ. |
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Psalms 27: 1, 4, 13 - 14 |
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1 |
The LORD is my
light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my
life; of whom shall I be afraid? |
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4 |
One thing have
I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house
of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and
to inquire in his temple. |
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13 |
I believe that
I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! |
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14 |
Wait for the
LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yea, wait for the LORD! |
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John 6: 1 - 15 |
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1 |
After this
Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of
Tiber'i-as. |
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2 |
And a
multitude followed him, because they saw the signs which he did on those
who were diseased. |
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3 |
Jesus went up
on the mountain, and there sat down with his disciples. |
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4 |
Now the
Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. |
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5 |
Lifting up his
eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus said to
Philip, "How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?" |
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6 |
This he said
to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. |
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7 |
Philip
answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each
of them to get a little." |
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8 |
One of his
disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, |
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9 |
"There is
a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among
so many?" |
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10 |
Jesus said,
"Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the
place; so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. |
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11 |
Jesus then
took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those
who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. |
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12 |
And when they
had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments
left over, that nothing may be lost." |
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13 |
So they
gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five
barley loaves, left by those who had eaten. |
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14 |
When the
people saw the sign which he had done, they said, "This is indeed the
prophet who is to come into the world!" |
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15 |
Perceiving
then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king,
Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. |
1. One of
the best known miracles of Jesus is told to us anew in the gospel today. We
wonder why it is recounted in the context of Eastertide.
2. During
the Easter we celebrate the new life and Jesus is the Bread of Life. He
nourishes his people with his own body and blood, so that we especially
connect with his paschal mystery through the mystery of the Holy Eucharist.
3. It is
John, the evangelist, above all, who, starting with the mere facts of the
multiplication of the loaves, gives us a detailed account of the events that
happened before and after. His details go even up to tell that “there was much grass in the place.”
Such a vivid picture could indicate that we are hearing a very personal
testimony, something that comes right from an eyewitness.
4. On the
other hand, it is John again who offer a deepest meditation on the meaning of
the miracle. In the particular passage of today we see just the physical or
material dimension of the miracle. Nonetheless, John’s intention, as we will
see in the coming days, is to go forth and to bring us to the sign beyond the miracle.
5. As for
the actual text we heard today, we may highlight the difference between
Philip’s and Andrew’s attitudes before the same problem. Philip became
overwhelmed and did not dare to propose anything. Andrew, on the other hand,
acknowledged the difficulty but was still able to propose something, even if
that could mean so little: “five barley
loaves and two fish.”
6. What
is more beautiful is to realise that even a so humble proposal was heard and
taken into account by the Lord. Was not He able to make a solution out of
nothing? Of course! But he took Andrew’s modest offering and started from
that to feed the whole crowd.
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