Inspirations at your Fingertips!

Friday of the 2nd week of Eastertide John 6:1-15

Offering and life Matthew 18:21-35 In the first reading, the offering Azariah mentioned in his prayer should be congruent to his repentant heart.  It's time that we also see the parallelism of the offering we do at every Eucharist we celebrate to the offering of our everyday lives to God. In the gospel, the degree of forgiveness to others should be seen in the extent of God's forgiveness to us.  And how does God forgive us? Absolutely and without conditions. Then how should be serve others?  Absolutely also without conditions as well!  This is to mirror in our lives what God has done to us that we should also do to others.

Multiplication of good works John 6:1-15  The multiplication of the loaves is a sign of the fruitfulness not only of Jesus, but of his disciples who do God's will. Let's make an honest evaluation of the fruitlessness of things, and why we keep on saying, we have no money or time or talent when in fact we have them on this earth. Second, let's learn how Jesus multiplied the loaves through: 1. through offering - the process cannot start if there are no gifts offered. 2. gifts have to be offered to God, not kept to self. 3. gifts have to be broken and be ready for distribution.; 4. gifts have to be given to others to complete their purpose. These could also apply to our fruitfulness in this world if we know how to offer ourselve to God, sanctify all our work and being, break ourselves to serve God, and give ourselves to others so they may also be offerings to others.

True offering Matthew 9:1-8 We are following the book of Genesis.  The story is about offering.  Even if it takes his son to be offered, Abraham succumbed to God's will.  He said, "My son, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering."  These words marked the quality of a true offering: it is not the gift that is the core of the offering, but our total resignation to God's will, knowing full well that God provides for all our needs. In our gospel, Jesus cured the paralytic.  Seeing him in a pitiable state, he said, "Courage, my child, your sins are forgiven."  Total resignation to God also means he cures us in our totality; he cures us inside and out, and not just according to our expectations.  This is also the quality of Jesus' offering coupled with our own - we are cured entirely, from relationships to actual situation. Thus, when we give, give just as Jesus did and what God has in mind - everything.