Today’s readings are our salvation story in miniature. The first reading tells of the disobedience of Adam and Eve and their exile from the Garden of Eden. The psalmist sings the story of human frailty and exile in the responsorial psalm. “Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants!” (verse 13) is his plaintive cry.
And then Mark tells the story of Jesus, God’s answer to the psalmist’s plea. This is a merciful Messiah: His heart is “moved with pity” for the hungry crowd that is completely dependent on him. In a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, Jesus blesses the food and breaks it so it may be shared with 4,000 people.
Today’s readings are an opportunity for us to ponder the vast sweep of the salvation story that we are the beneficiaries of. Through sin we become exiled from God, but God in his mercy sends his Son to redeem us and to feed us. Praise the Lord!
As the Lord has fed us, let us be mindful of the hunger of others and share what we have.
I wonder what would have been if Adam and Eve would have repented of their sin of not trusting and disobeying God? Also why was the serpent in the garden of Eden, the perfect paradise? God knows :-) I do know that God had given them both the opportunity to repent by asking them questions as if God did not know where they were and what they have done. ***God is gracious giving Adam and Eve opportunity to repent and He is doing the same today! ***God is loving in providing the first sacrifice for the sin of Adam and Eve by killing an animal to clothe them with leather garments! ***God is merciful not wanting Adam and Eve to live forever in a sinful state if they would have eaten from the tree of life! ***All of these God's attributes: Gracious, Loving and Merciful are fully displayed in the Gospel today! ***The feeding of the 4,000 (recorded in Matthew and Mark) were mostly Gentiles where as the feeding of the 5,000 (recorded in all 4 Gospels) were Jews. Seven (meaning complete with the Gentiles) baskets left from the 4,000 and twelve (meaning the 12 tribes of Israel) baskets left from the 5,000! ***My prayer: Before the mountains were begotten and the earth and the world were brought forth, from everlasting to everlasting You are God...In every age, O Lord, You have been my refuge. Teach me to number my days aright, that I may gain wisdom of Your heart! Amen! (Psalm 90:1-2, 12) ***Everlasting God by Lincoln Brewster https://youtu.be/jP2nz6PG8KM
Loved your words! Thanks Salina and God Bless You!
The foot notes in my bible say the snake previously stood upright and enjoyed a reputation for being shrewder than other animals and obviously could speak to humans. Now it must move on its belly, is more cursed and inspires revulsion in humans.
Amen. Thank you Holy Father for this beautiful day and for this Gospel today. Thank you Lord for my faith, my life and for my family. Thank you Holy Father, most of all, for your great sacrifice and for the opportunity of forgiveness and reconciliation. Please Lord have mercy. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ, now and forever. Amen Father, in the name of Jesus, we ask that you release your warrior angels and heavenly hots. We decry and declare that they would take us off the enemies' radar and scramble the enemies' frequencies (airwaves). Your Kingdom must come now. Your will must be done right now as in the heavens also on earth. Amen
Greg, Great job of tying together the readings. Thanks.
Thanks Greg for today's devotion.Secularism the scourge of our time. Why is humanity and the world so divided today? The biblical response in no uncertain terms traces it to sin, which alienates man from God, and then man from each other. Sin begins with pride and a false sense of autonomy which is the reflection of the situation of humanity today. The educated, scientific and technological man is full of himself. He thinks that through his intellect and knowledge, he does not need God, and certainly not anyone, to advise him what is the right and good thing to do. He knows everything and if he does not know, he will find the answer sooner or later. Lord our God, we thank you for helping us again and again. Praised be your name for all you do for us and for all your help in many dangers and hardships! Prayer for all the living faith family members Have a great day everyone.
Amen Sham.
Shame Peter - Amen -thanks for your added insight Sn relocation to Gregs thoughts you certianly have brought all of disconnection between ourselves - jobs - family an life in to the obvious direction we all need to understand an grasp . We need to listen an be open an with God as the center of our lives -faith -families -play an work -an with him we can have all things . That is why we are all going through this pandemic an all of our lives are touched by it an what we need is him to to touch all our lives an all will be well . So thank you Shame Peter a greg . God bless LFF family an may Gods grace an love an peace be with you now an always . Happy Valentine's Day all feel Gods love everyday . Michael
Annette When you get up and can't get back to sleep. Try deep breathing and recite the following "Holy spirit guide my mind holy spirit control my thoughts " After a while you will be able to sleep. When you are praying please include the souls in purgatory and the people who have no one to pray for them. Annette please pray for Mason a young grandson of a member of my church. Also please pray for Louis and his grandson who was shot and killed this year. Living faith family I am praying for the group right now Ken
Great commentary, Sham Peter. At the root of most sin and evil is the lack of humility. Adam and Eve thought they could become like God and in today’s world so many think they don’t need God or that He is just a character in a make-believe story. We are definitely living in a predominantly pagan world right now, but God always wins in the end! Amen, alleluia!!
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Dear Jesus "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart."