May 11
The Lord's creative power
onsider how the
Lord's creative power penetrates everything. Our Lord took a little bread,
and in the twinkling of an eye multiplied it. Work that would take us ten
months to accomplish he did with his ten fingers in a moment. His hands
were as earth beneath the bread and his voice was as thunder above it.
The movement of his lips acted as dew, the breath of his mouth as sunlight,
and in a brief moment he accomplished what normally takes much time. Thus
the shortage was forgotten; many loaves came from few as in the first blessing:
Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
The Lord also showed those to whom he gave his precepts the power of
his holy word, and how swiftly he would reward those who accepted it. Nevertheless,
he did not increase the number of loaves as much as he could have done,
but only enough to satisfy those who were to eat them. His power was not
the measure of his miracle, but the people's hunger. Had his miracle been
measured by his power it would have been a victory beyond all measure.
From John E. Rotelle, O.S.A., Tradition Day by Day: Readings from
Church Writers. Augustinian Press. Villanova, PA, 1994.
HTML text prepared by David P. Steelman
