Ordinary Time

Pause

Hold up. What’s on your mind? Is something bugging you? I know it’s easier said than done, but put it aside for a second. Don’t worry, it will still be there later.

Now is the time to have a moment with God. I know… God is always there, but this moment is for just you and God — not the 10 million other things that always seem to interfere.

All the other cares of this world are just that, cares of this world. Put them away and take this moment. Hold it. Cherish it.

Use it to breathe, slow down, and chat with your God — the God of words and wonders.

Listen

After this Jesus went across the Galilee Sea (that is, the Tiberias Sea). A large crowd followed him, because they had seen the miraculous signs he had done among the sick. Jesus went up a mountain and sat there with his disciples. It was nearly time for Passover, the Jewish festival.

Jesus looked up and saw the large crowd coming toward him. He asked Philip, “Where will we buy food to feed these people?” Jesus said this to test him, for he already knew what he was going to do.

Philip replied, “More than a half year’s salary worth of food wouldn’t be enough for each person to have even a little bit.”

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, “A youth here has five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that for a crowd like this?”

John 6:1-9

Think

Sometimes we get ourselves into little messes. Even though the messes aren’t that big, they seem huge while they’re going on.

This meal is Jesus’ most famous miracle, and one of the few that every Gospel writer included in their tale of Jesus’ life. 5000 people, far out in the middle of nowhere, in the hot sun, listening to Jesus teach all day long, and suddenly there is a loud, collective growl of 5000 stomachs. Nobody remembered to bring food — well, almost nobody.

Andrew finds “a youth here” who had the sense to pack a lunch. I feel for that poor youth. Not only is there a distinct possibility of losing his lunch, but there’s also that awkward moment when religious people realize there’s a “young person” around. Hey look! It’s a youth!

The mess gets messier. Andrew continues, “What good is that for a crowd like this?”

We already know what’s happens next, but what a crummy way to treat the one smart person among 5000. Have you ever been that one smart person?

Chris Suehr

Pray

Hey God — it’s me! The world has a bunch of problems, but I have problems of my own. Help me to see the right size and place of these problems, and show me how to take them on one bite at a time. Amen.

Go

“God, whose almighty word,
chaos and darkness heard,
and took their flight:
hear us, we humbly pray,
and where the gospel-day
sheds not its glorious ray,
let there be light!”

From “Thou, Whose Almighty Word,” 1813, by John Marriott