Daily Reflection: Saturday, February 12
Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
They ate and were satisfied. (Mk 8:8)
In this account from Mark, Jesus fed about four thousand people with seven loaves of bread and a few fish and they were satisfied. Wryly, I note that satisfying four thousand people was itself a miracle! It is hard enough to satisfy a dozen people.
Of course, it was the people’s hunger that was satisfied. Some translations say that they were “filled”. We might look at this scene as a vision of heaven: multitudes gathered around the Lord and filled with the Bread of Life, the Lord himself. In heaven, there is more than satisfaction, always leftovers.
In the Eucharist the Lord gives us Bread, his very self and a sign of what is in store. Whenever we break bread in fellowship, the Lord is there. Give thanks and be satisfied.
John Frambes, ofm