questions

Acts 5:34-42; PS 27 One thing I seek; to dwell in the house of the Lord; Jn 6:1-15

"But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God...After recalling the apostles they had them flogged, ordered them to stop speaking in the name of JEsus , and dismissed them. SO the left rejoicing they have been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name."


The above comes from the first reading for today, this friday, 2nd week of Easter.

Do we suffer for the sake of the name?  Are we willing to be dishonored in the eyes of society for the faith we profess and the faith we carry with us?  We will be like the apostles and, after being reprimanded and flogged, continue to teach in his name?

There is always opposition, sometimes external and outside of us, sometimes internal from within us, sometimes from friends and family, but will we keep going, will we refuse to stand down, will we make the message known?

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In the gospel today we encounter the multiplication of the loaves and fish, which is a precursor to the bread of life discourse where Jesus invites us to receive the reality that he is the bread of life.

But in today's account Jesus looks around and he sees the crowd.  The jewish feast of passover was near, which means extra visitors to JErusalem, so the crowds were larger than usual.

They all wanted to see Jesus, and not all for a pure reason but nonetheless he obliges them.

JEsus poses a question to the Apostles, "Where can we buy enough food for them?"

Thats the question JEsus asks.

Yet if you notice the Apostles answer a different question.  Philip starts talking about how much money it would take, "two hundred days worth of wages wouldn't be enough to purchase food enough"  where as Andrew starts to telling how much is available on hand, "where there is a boy here with five loaves and two fish."

One speaks of how much money and the other speaks of how much is available in the place but neither answered the question, "where can we buy enough food for them?"

Sometimes we are like the apostles, we busy ourselves with answering the wrong questions rather than listening and following through on the question JEsus asks.

Simply put the Apostles could said, Lord, what do have in mind?  We trust you, you lead us?

Nonetheless, Jesus obliges us as he does the crowd and takes the five and two and feeds them all.

Not only does JEsus provide questions, he always provides answers as well.

Be sure you are hearing the right question to day and don't let the anxiety and fear lead you to spend all your energy seeking an answer to the question never asked!