We are invited to step out in trust, to serve one another as one community, bound by faith by one spirit to one God. We are to fulfil our calling, by living in a way which demonstrates our honour for God and bears witness to the name of Jesus in whose name we have been called and gathered as one.

From the first reading to the Gospel reading of the feeding of the five thousand, we know God can turn a little of something into a thing of abundance. The man from Baal-shalishah brings the first of his crop, the best of it first and foremost as an offering to God. The breath of life we receive and all our gifts we have are from God, and it is God that we honour first and foremost with all that we have, with the best that we got; our time, our talents and the fruits of our labour.

Just as the boy shared the little that he had; 2 fish and 5 barley loaves which were miraculously multiplied to feed thousands, God can take the little we have and feed thousands. We just need to take the first step of offering to God what was given to us in the first place.

In today’s broken and hurting world, our calling is to be there for our broken and hungry community, those who are broken and are blind to the abundance and providence of God in hopeless circumstances and those who are empty and starving of the word of God that could fill them with eternal healing and life. What then do we offer? The little we have; our 2 fish and 5 loaves: the knowledge and peace of God that we have received through our own healings and experiences.

I remember how I once was hungry and desperate as the people who followed Jesus for miracles were. Tragedy struck. I too ran from pillar to post looking for God, for a miracle and a way out of misery.

I was fed by a community of Christians, who were living their calling by honouring Jesus with whatever they had; by their witnessing of miracles, their knowledge of the Lord, their time spent with me listening and praying and their physical presence carrying the presence of the Spirit within. It did not look like much, but God turned it into an abundance of blessings and peace within my struggle.

In turn I offer the little I got; my encounters, my testimonies and the shining star of blessings. They witness to honour my God so that someone may be fed the first morsel of hope in their struggle.

PRAYER: Abba Father, I offer you all that I am and all that I have. Lead me to those in need. Amen.