Message of Abbot Paul - Saturday 11th February 2023
Abbot Paul • February 10, 2023
As today we remember Our Lady of Lourdes, we also keep it as a special day of prayer for the sick. For those living in the UK, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for us to pray especially for the NHS, our hospitals, surgeries, surgeons, doctors, nurses and administrative staff, who have always looked after our health so well and at present are going through a difficult patch. We pray that with the support of our citizens as well as of the government, not only will it survive but go from strength to strength. For my part, I can truthfully say that I have only ever received the very best care, for which I am eternally grateful.
In our Gospel today we continue reading from Mark, (Mk 8: 1-10), where the evangelist recounts one of the episodes where Jesus feeds a vast crowd of people, in this case four thousand. Mark’s introduction is brief in the extreme and no reason is given for the crowds being there with Jesus and his disciples. “A great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat.” We have to wait for Jesus to speak before we discover that the crowd has been with him for three days. “I feel sorry for all these people; they have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. If I send them off home hungry, they will collapse on the way; some have come a great distance.” We note the compassion of Jesus and his fear of the consequences should the crowd begin to walk home without having eaten. The disciples realise that it’s their responsibility to take care of logistics. “Where could anyone get bread to feed these people in a deserted place like this?” they ask Jesus. All they have left are seven loaves, but that’s all Jesus needs.
“Then he instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and handed them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them among the crowd. They had a few small fish as well, and over these he said a blessing and ordered them to be distributed also. They ate as much as they wanted, and they collected seven baskets, full of the scraps left over. Now there had been about four thousand people.” It strikes me that the scene is as apocalyptic as it is eucharistic. It is a vision of heaven. It also reminds us of the Exodus, Moses and the manna. The crowd eats as much as it needs of the bread and fish and there’s an abundance of scraps left over. Is this for the journey home? We are not told what happens to the scraps. The story ends as abruptly as it began. “Jesus sent them away and immediately, getting into the boat with his disciples, went to the region of Dalmanutha.” This is the only occasion this place is mentioned in the Bible. Matthew has a similar story, but tells us that Jesus landed at a town called Magadan. Theories are far too complicated to go into here. There is much in the Bible, even in the New Testament, still for us to discover. But that’s true of life in general.
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