GROW: If the multiplication of the loaves sounds oh so familiar … it’s because it is! It’s the only miracle story found in all four Gospels, and for good reason. Jesus multiplies the meager offering of a boy with five barley loaves and two fish and feeds a large crowd with baskets left over. The story is symbolic of the food that is readily available through Jesus in the Eucharist. The crowd in the Gospel that had been following Jesus was tired, worn out, and hungry. Don’t we all feel discouraged now and then? When we do, Jesus makes himself available to us in the Eucharist; he provides daily food that nourishes and sustains. When we eat this life-giving bread, we are strengthened and fortified, as was the crowd in the Gospel, as we heard: “They had more than they could eat.”

GROW: What words do we associate with being misled? Deceived, fooled, cheated? While these actions make great plot points in novels and movies, in real life they are offenses against justice, charity, and truth. In both the first reading and the Gospel today, we hear that God’s people are being misled (“Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture”) and/or left to their own devices (“for they were like sheep without a shepherd”). In the time of Jeremiah the kings of Judah, who were shepherding in God’s name, were not tending their flock: They had “scattered [his] sheep and driven them away.” Jeremiah prophesies that the Lord will gather the remnant of his flock and bring them back to their meadow; in short, the Lord offers hope. He would raise up from the house of David a true shepherd to guide and guard his people. The incarnation of Jesus is the manifestation of that hope, and in him we have a guiding light to lead us along the correct path. He will never deceive, fool, or cheat. In this world filled with unrest and division, he offers something that no mortal man or woman can: He is the one who saves and redeems. He is the one true shepherd.

GROW: Have you ever considered the task before you and thought, No way am I equipped for this?  There are certainly times when it seems God is calling us to more than we are prepared for. The prophet Amos never expected to be God’s mouthpiece. He was a simple shepherd and a “dresser of sycamores.” Yet, Amos listened when God chose him “from following the flock” and instructed him to speak to Israel, even if he may have thought the whole idea quite silly. “Do you really mean me?” we might imagine him saying. We see this theme of God calling those we might least expect to important missions on countless occasions throughout Scripture: Moses had a speech impediment; Rahab was a prostitute; David was a young boy; Ruth was a foreigner; Matthew was a despised tax collector; Paul persecuted the early Christians; and the list goes on. On every occasion, however, trusting in God and listening to his voice was enough for each of these individuals to fulfill the role they were called to, even if they considered themselves the most unlikely candidate for the cause.

GROW: The prophets of the Old Testament didn’t exactly have it easy, and Ezekiel is no exception. The Lord tells him that he’s being sent to the Israelites, calling them “rebels who have rebelled against me,” who were “hard of face and obstinate of heart.” In other words, God basically tells him that they will be a tough audience. Can you imagine how Ezekiel felt? Here, he is being dispatched to a people who will likely not welcome him in order to say things that probably no one will want to hear And yet his work is crucial. God is sending his people a messenger, telling them he stills loves them and wants them to be his people. It should come as no surprise that we are called to do the same! Although we may not describe the people in our lives as obstinate or “a rebellious house,” we know it’s not always easy to share God’s message. It matters that we do, though. We may not always know exactly what effects our words and actions have, but everything the Lord asks us to do has a purpose.