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Today's Readings
Dearest Lord,
What a nightmare scenario: Five loaves, two fish--and five thousand hungry people! But trust you to turn every event organizer's worst nightmare into an unforgettable affair!
What struck me most this time around, however, was not what happens during the miracle, but after it: As the people sit on the grass after feasting on your miraculous banquet, you tell your disciples, "Gather the fragments." They probably could once again only shake their heads in bewilderment, but as usual they do it anyway. And to their astonishment, the leftover food fills twelve wicker of baskets.
Now I have no idea exactly how much that is, but it sounds like a lot. Once again you outdo yourself! Not content with feeding the five thousand, you had to send them home carrying doggy bags too.
But Lord, isn't that typical of you? Haven't you always been pretty extravagant? The only problem is, you're quite quiet about it. Every single day of our lives you perform both great and tiny miracles. But often your miracles are far too subtle for us to sit up and notice. At times we do take notice--a prayer finally granted, healing from pain, rescue from some trouble, or just a happy turn of events. But what do we do? We say, "Thank you!" but like a guest rushing to go to another appointment, we "eat and run."
Every moment of our lives, you feed us with bread, with breath! But what do we do? We eat and run.
Today you say to us: Don't eat and run. Gather the fragments. Linger after the miracles. Don't rush away. Savor the memory of blessings past. There are still far too many leftover graces that we can keep in storage--crumbs from past miracles can still fill us for days!
Today, Lord, I will recount and re-count my blessings. Thank you. Amen.
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