Taking Time

When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.  The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.  When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.  When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”  Jesus said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.”  But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”  Then he said, “Bring them here to me, ”and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.  Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.  They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over— twelve wicker baskets full.  Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.  Matthew 14: 13 – 21

Jesus had just received word that his cousin John had died.  He tried to go off by Himself and the crowd followed Him.  Jesus was moved by pity and He reached out to help them.  Rather than go away He healed their sick and felt genuine pity on them.  As they day drew on His disciples told Him to dismiss the crowd.  Jesus realizing that they much have been hungry asked the disciples what they had with them.  There was no way that the food would be enough but Jesus made sure that there was.  Not only were they all fed there were even leftovers.  Jesus in the midst of His own grief took care of the crowd even though He wanted to be alone.

Jesus’ strength and courage came from His daily prayer life and His relationship with God. These past six months have been hard for all of us.  The pandemic, civil unrest and political divisions have caused many of us to want to run away and hide.  Like Jesus we need to take time and pray.  We need to ask God to strengthen us and give us the courage to face the many difficult situations that come to us.