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9. This extraordinary divine assistance is guaranteed to all who offer their lives to Jesus. God the Father’s plan of salvation embraces all mankind; his one same Holy Spirit is sent as gift to all who are open to receive him in faith. We each form a part of God’s overall plan. An exclusively personal and private attitude to salvation is not Christian and is born of a fundamentally mistaken mentality.
Consequently, your lives cannot be lived in isolation, and even in deciding your future you must always keep in mind your responsibility as Christians towards others. There is no place in your lives for apathy or indifference to the world around you. There is no place in the Church for selfishness. You must show a conscientious concern that the standards of society fit the plan of God. Christ counts on you, so that the effects of his Holy Spirit may radiate from you to others and in that way permeate every aspect of the public and the private sector of national life. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good”.
10. Do not let the sight of the world in turmoil shake your confidence in Jesus. Not even the threat of nuclear war. Remember his words: “Be brave: I have conquered the world”. Let no temptation discourage you. Let no failure hold you down. There is nothing that you cannot master with the help of the One who gives you strength.
11. Follow the example of Our Blessed Lady, the perfect model of trust in God and wholehearted cooperation in his divine plan for the salvation of mankind. Keep in mind the advice she gave the servants at Cana: “Do whatever he tells you”. Jesus changed the water into wine for his Mother on that occasion. Through her intercession he will transform your lives.
I must continue now with my pilgrimage through your beloved Scotland. I take leave of you happy in the thought that your young hearts accompany me on my journey, and that I have the support of your daily prayers. For my part I wish to assure you, each and every one of you, of my love in Christ Jesus.
Young people of Scotland, I thank you. Keep the faith joyfully; and my blessing be with you.
31 July 2012 |
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4 August 2012
20 loaves fed 100 men and still have some leftover - Extracted from the 2nd Book of Kings 4:42-44
A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing Elisha, the man of God, bread from the first-fruits, twenty barley loaves and fresh grain in the ear.’
‘Give it to the people to eat’, Elisha said.
But his servant replied, ‘How can I serve this to a hundred men?’
‘Give it to the people to eat’ he insisted ‘for the Lord says this, “They will eat and have some left over.”’ He served them; they ate and had some left over, as the Lord had said. |
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Jesus Christ fed 5000 men with 5 barley loaves & 2 fish 8-) -Extracted from the holy Gospel according to John, Chapter 6:1-15
Jesus went off to the other side of the Sea of Galilee – or of Tiberias – and a large crowd followed him, impressed by the signs he gave by curing the sick.
Jesus climbed the hillside, and sat down there with his disciples. It was shortly before the Jewish feast of Passover.
Looking up, Jesus saw the crowds approaching and said to Philip, ‘Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat?’
He only said this to test Philip; he himself knew exactly what he was going to do.
Philip answered, ‘Two hundred denarii would only buy enough to give them a small piece each.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, ‘There is a small boy here with five barley loaves and two fish; but what is that between so many?’
Jesus said to them, ‘Make the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass there, and as many as five thousand men sat down.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and gave them out to all who were sitting ready; he then did the same with the fish, giving out as much as was wanted.
When they had eaten enough he said to the disciples, ‘Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing gets wasted.’
So they picked them up, and filled twelve hampers with scraps left over from the meal of five barley loaves.
The people, seeing this sign that he had given, said, ‘This really is the prophet who is to come into the world.’
Jesus, who could see they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, escaped back to the hills by himself.
Sharing:
After the aforesaid were read in the 10:00am Holy Mass last Sunday 29 July 2012, a wise and elderly priest gave the homily and we have summarized to share with you:
Jesus performed the miracle of the multiplication of food after the small boy had offered Him the 5 barley loaves and 2 fish, so that 5000 men could be fed. Well the actual number of people could be more, as it was common for each man to bring his wife and children along to listen to Jesus; assume each man brought his wife and 1 child, the actual number being well fed could be more than 15000.
Our Jesus who loves us would always want to help us in any kind of desperate situation, but He wants our contribution and participation in all His Works of Salvation. Obviously, He the Almighty God could have turned the stones into bread to feed the 5000 men, as there were plenty of them in the field, but He wanted to use the very little that this generous small boy had to perform the miracle.
Our Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize Winner started God’s work of Charity with just a few coins…
Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation, which in 2012 consisted of over 4,500 sisters and is active in 133 countries. Members of the order must adhere to the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, and the fourth vow, to give "Wholehearted and Free service to the poorest of the poor". The Missionaries of Charity at the time of her death had 610 missions in 123 countries including hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's and family counseling programmes, orphanages and schools.
Our Blessed Pope John Paul II in his visit to Murrayfield (Great Britain), 31 May 1982 addressed to the young people of Scotland and the same John 6:1-15 was being read and quoted (see previous page). He said, ‘Now the point I wish to make is this: Saint Andrew gave Jesus all there was available, and Jesus miraculously fed those five thousand people and still had something left over. It is exactly the same with your lives. Left alone to face the difficult challenges of life today, you feel conscious of your inadequacy and afraid of what the future may hold for you. But what I say to you is this: place your lives in the hands of Jesus. He will accept you, and bless you, and he will make such use of your lives as will be beyond your greatest expectations! In other words: surrender yourselves, like so many loaves and fishes, into the all-powerful, sustaining hands of God and you will find yourselves transformed with “newness of life”, with fullness of life. “Unload your burden on the Lord, and he will support you”.’
You alone = may be impossible, but You + God = Going to create many Miracles, as “with God all things are possible” -Matthew 19:26
After all the people had eaten more than enough, Jesus instructed the disciples, ‘Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing gets wasted.’ He is also telling us now not to waste food. In Singapore, many of our children always have more than enough; it is common to see in many Fast Food Restaurants that edible food being left behind to be thrown away eventually. This is sad as there are millions around us who do not have the basic necessity and have nothing to eat. If we could be more discipline by ordering food based on what we need, we could have more to share with those in need. It is not about money, it is about basic love for the humanity and for people around us. 4 August 2012 |
