“The most effective Catholic ideas come from those who embody the things they are saying………..They are their message...American Catholics...need to look like what they are talking about. It is people who communicate primarily, not words or ideas...But Authenticity...Those are the Catholics (lay or clerical) who get across their message deep down inside people......To sum this “idea up”…….What communicates now is basically personal authenticity…And in order to be an Authentic Catholic you need God’s grace……And God’s grace comes from living a Sacramental life, praying daily, fasting and if you can, giving alms”

Gospel Text: (Mk 6:34-44)

When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things. 
By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said,
“This is a deserted place and it is already very late. 
Dismiss them so that they can go 
to the surrounding farms and villages
and buy themselves something to eat.” 
He said to them in reply,
“Give them some food yourselves.” 
But they said to him,
“Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food
and give it to them to eat?” 
He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?  Go and see.” 
And when they had found out they said,
“Five loaves and two fish.” 
So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass. 
The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties. 
Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, 
he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples
to set before the people;
he also divided the two fish among them all. 
They all ate and were satisfied. 
And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments
and what was left of the fish. 
Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.

Reflect, today, upon how God sometimes calls you to follow Him in ways that do not immediately make sense.  Don’t be surprised if you sense, at times, God calling you to listen more intently to His promise of providence than your own natural deduction of human logic.  God’s ways are far above our ways.  Sometimes His call is radical, and when you are deeply convicted in faith that God is calling you to trust Him, then do it.  Trust Him in all things and He will always provide for you.