How can I do more with what little I have?
Today we hear the well-known story of Jesus feeding the multitude gathered before him with only five loaves and two fish.
When Jesus told the disciples to feed the crowd, their reply was, “…but this is all we have.” They felt that they didn’t have enough to do what Jesus was asking them.
How often have you ever felt like that? Like what you have just isn’t enough to do all of the things that you either need or want to do? I think we all feel like that from time to time. If the day just had one more hour… or If I could just make a little bit more at my job…
We all work hard to make a living wage to pay the bills, support our families, and maybe save up for that something special for ourselves (a vacation, a nicer car or house, etc.). Then we are asked to give more to support the Church, other charities, or people in need. This can be a challenging request.
Time is another commodity of which we never seem to have enough. Our schedule can be packed so full of activities, that it seems as though there just isn’t enough time to volunteer or drive across town to see someone we haven’t seen in a while.
But what Jesus is telling us in today’s gospel, is that we DO have the resources we need to be generous. We just need to pray and reflect on how we use them.
Despite having finite resources and never feeling like we have enough, maybe now is a good time to take a look at how we are spending our time and money. Maybe we, like the disciples, need to trust in Jesus and know that we can actually do more with what we have.
-Matt Kush