Protesting Too Much

Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.

Everybody was tired—and hungry. They also were probably getting pretty cranky. Can you blame the disciples for asking Jesus to send members of the crowd on their way? But instead, the Hospitality Master tells his followers to feed the masses.

They don’t get it, of course. They never get it when Jesus is speaking of something beyond the tangible. But they trust in his direction and gather up the five loaves and two fish—and a miracle results. The loaves and fish are more than enough for five thousand-plus hungry people.

Sometimes, we don’t get it either. We come up with a whole lot of reasons, often seemingly legitimate, why we can’t feed others. We don’t have the time. We don’t have the knowledge. We don’t have the soft skills. We don’t have the money. We think tangible when the service invitation is of another level, one of comfort and solace. The opportunity passes. But somewhere in our souls, we know that we are spiritually poorer and more distant from the Lord for having said no.

By Melanie

Melanie Rigney is the author of Radical Saints: 21 Women for the 21st Century and other Catholic books. She is a contributor to Living Faith and other Catholic blogs. She lives in Arlington, Virginia. Melanie also owns Editor for You, a publishing consultancy that since 2003 has helped hundreds of writers, publishers, and agents.

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