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F
RIDAY
IN
THE
O
CTAVE OF
E
ASTER
Acts of the Apostles 5:34-42
Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14
John 6:1-15
S
UMMARY
Ultimately, all that other stuff – the impressive job, the high
end car, the designer this or that, the 5 star vacation, the 6
figure income, all the false faiths we espouse or false gods
we worship – invariably fail to satiate the deep hunger within
us. What feeds us is Heaven’s manna, the “bread” of Christ,
His body and His message. Most miraculously yet, God’s
grace never runs out, no matter how needy we become. In
the “house of the LORD,” there is always more than enough. In fact, there are leftovers
to share!
R
EFLECTION
In my world, there is no such thing as coincidence.
I am not, obviously, the first person to think of this. As William Cowper wrote over 200
years ago: “God works in a mysterious way…”
So here I am, working on my ‘debut’ entry in the prayer book and quaking in my boots.
REFLECTION is a task for heavyweights like priests and nuns and Bible study leaders
and preachers with television shows, not me. But I gave my word I’d write something,
so write I will….I hope. I pray.
What blew me away about these readings is how perfectly they echo my own jour-
ney...and, in some ways, perhaps your own as well.
For starters, uncomfortable as this is to admit, I can relate to the Pharisees. (Acts 5:34-
42) By my 20s, I’d left the church -- dabbling in Buddhism, Baha’i and what I called the
gospel according to George Lucas. I loved that stuff about the Force. In my 30s, how-
ever, I turned my back even on Yoda. And a confirmed atheist I remained for fifteen
years.
What strikes me is how many believers -- most of them Catholics! does God have a
sense of humor or what? – crossed my path while I wandered in this wilderness of my
own angry making. Granted, I didn’t beat Christians to a pulp like the Sanhedrin, but I
sure didn’t heed the words of Gamaliel either. How superior I felt to Christians – pa-