The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today exhort us to understand and experience action in love for others that is an “epiphany” of our mission in Christian action.
The Reading from the First Letter of John declares God’s Love and Christian Life.
* [4:7–12] Love as we share in it testifies to the nature of God and to his presence in our lives. One who loves shows that one is a child of God and knows God, for God’s very being is love; one without love is without God. The revelation of the nature of God’s love is found in the free gift of his Son to us, so that we may share life with God and be delivered from our sins. The love we have for one another must be of the same sort: authentic, merciful; this unique Christian love is our proof that we know God and can “see” the invisible God. (1 John, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 72 presents the Israelite king as the instrument of divine justice
* [Psalm 72] A royal Psalm in which the Israelite king, as the representative of God, is the instrument of divine justice (Ps 72:1–4, 12–14) and blessing (Ps 72:5–7, 15–17) for the whole world. The king is human, giving only what he has received from God. Hence intercession must be made for him. The extravagant language is typical of oriental royal courts. (Psalms, PSALM 72 | USCCB, n.d.)
The Gospel of Mark proclaims the Feeding of the Five Thousand.
* [6:35–44] See note on Mt 14:13–21. Compare this section with Mk 8:1–9. The various accounts of the multiplication of loaves and fishes, two each in Mark and in Matthew and one each in Luke and in John, indicate the wide interest of the early church in their eucharistic gatherings; see, e.g., Mk 6:41; 8:6; 14:22; and recall also the sign of bread in Ex 16; Dt 8:3–16; Ps 78:24–25; 105:40; Wis 16:20–21.
* [6:40] The people…in rows by hundreds and by fifties: reminiscent of the groupings of Israelites encamped in the desert (Ex 18:21–25) and of the wilderness tradition of the prophets depicting the transformation of the wasteland into pastures where the true shepherd feeds his flock (Ez 34:25–26) and makes his people beneficiaries of messianic grace.
* [6:41] On the language of this verse as eucharistic (cf. Mk 14:22), see notes on Mt 14:19, 20. Jesus observed the Jewish table ritual of blessing God before partaking of food. (Mark, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB, n.d.)
A Member of Creighton University Community offers a reflection to help comprehend the love of which the apostle and the saint speak and to help understand what St. Augustine, in this same homily, meant by “love, and do what you will.” To love God and our neighbor is to will what is best for them. It is to sacrifice for them.
The following is from St. Augustine’s famous sermon on love where he reflects upon the Apostle John’s words:
“This is how the love of God is shown among us.” The reason why the writer exhorts us, is so that we may come to love God. Could we love him, unless he first loved us? Though we were slow to love, let us not be slow to love in return. He loved us first. We do not even love in the same way as he. He loved the unrighteous, but he took away the unrighteousness. He loved the sick, but he visited them to make them whole. Love, then, is God. “This is how the love of God is shown among us: God sent his only Son into the world, that we may live through him.” As the Lord himself said: “No one can have greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.” [John 25:13] This proved Christ’s love for us, the fact that he died for us. How is the Father’s love for us proved? By the fact that he sent his only Son to die for us. As the apostle Paul says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how will he not freely give us all things?” [Rom. 8:32] (A Member of Creighton University Community, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “The Lord fills all things with blessing from above,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"So that by every means the Lord might be known to be God by nature, he multiplies what is little, and he looks up to heaven as though asking for the blessing from above. Now he does this out of the divine economy, for our sakes. For he himself is the one who fills all things, the true blessing from above and from the Father. But, so that we might learn that when we are in charge of the table and are preparing to break the loaves, we ought to bring them to God with hands upraised and bring down upon them the blessing from above, he became for us the beginning and pattern and way." (excerpt from FRAGMENT 177) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 6:34-44 comments that Jesus wanted to receive what the disciples offered him because they needed to be involved. As they saw what the Lord would do with the “raw materials” they had available, they learned that no matter their need, no matter the situation they faced, they could rely on Jesus to multiply whatever they gave him.
Remember, Jesus wants to receive what you have to offer, even when you feel it’s not much. It doesn’t matter how small your contribution is; when you give him what you have, he will always receive it and bless it and multiply it.
“Jesus, help me to have the confidence to offer you all that I have today!” (Meditation on Mark 6:34-44, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments about the passage from 1 John on Love. God taught us that Great Love is understood by Jesus as dying for the other person. To love is a choice. In the Gospel of Mark, the people were like sheep without a shepherd. The religious leaders had profited from their sheep. In Mark, there are two multiplications of the loaves, one feeding five thousand with twelve baskets remaining for the Twelve Tribes of Israel and one with seven baskets, the perfect number, for the Gentiles to feed the whole world. Friar Jude notes the green grass is an allusion to Psalm 23 and the promise that the Lord is my Shepherd.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces religious historian Diana Butler Bass who invites readers to take a clear-eyed look at the world around us and how we participate in its healing or harm. Butler Bass connects our ability to see and to act with the Christian celebration of the Epiphany.
The Wise Men awaited a sign in the sky—a star—to guide them on this journey. Revelations break in, signs appear in dreams, light shines forth, and glory hovers all around. Such things are from the realms of miracle, awe, and wonder. They surprise and disrupt the normal course of existence. Epiphanies are not of our making.
But it would be a mistake to believe that we are only passive recipients of epiphanies. We need to be alert for their arrival…. Revelations can be missed if one isn’t attentive or attuned to the possibilities of sacred surprise….
We cannot create epiphanies, but, like the Wise Men, we can respond to them. Epiphanies grab a hold of us; we can’t shake them. Epiphanies beckon. The star invites; it calls to the attentive to do something—to act. [2]
We reflect on the events of our life that changed our understanding of love as we express gratitude for the “epiphanies” that brought us to greater fullness in life.
References
Mark, CHAPTER 6 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 6, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/6?34
Meditation on Mark 6:34-44. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved January 6, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/01/06/1474341/
A Member of Creighton University Community. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved January 6, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-january-6-2026
1 John, CHAPTER 4 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 6, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1john/4?7
Psalms, PSALM 72 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved January 6, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/72?1
Schwager, D. (n.d.). They All Ate and Were Satisfied. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved January 6, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
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