1ST READING
Expiation is a very strong word. In this context it means that God, through the redemptive work of Jesus, has expiated or totally removed the power of sin over our lives. Sin has power over us only to the degree that we allow it. This is the wonder of the gift of salvation that Jesus offers us – it is only rivaled by the fact that human beings very rarely avail of this gift. We continue to give in to the temptation of sin. We need to overcome this through a deepening conversion to the love of God.
1 John 4:7-10
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. 8 Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we might have life through him. 10 In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins.
P S AL M
Psalm 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8
R: Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
1 O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king’s son; 2 He shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment. (R) 3 The mountains shall yield peace for the people, and the hills justice. 4 He shall defend the afflicted among the people, save the children of the poor. (R) 7 Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. 8 May he rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. (R)
GOSPEL
I have seen flocks of thousands of sheep that are confused and leaderless. The running to and fro with no purpose and direction could be the very definition of extreme futility. On the other hand, when there is a leader, the sheep will advance through the most difficult situations without hesitation and seemingly without difficulty. Perhaps this is why such an image is used for the disciples of Jesus. When we entrust everything to God, nothing seems impossible; when we do not, the simplest task is fraught with anxiety and difficulty.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION
The Lord has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor and to proclaim liberty to captives.
Mark 6:34-44
34 When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 35 By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already very late. 36 Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 He said to them in reply, “Give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?” 38 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out they said, “Five loaves and two fish.” 39 So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties. 41 Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; he also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments and what was left of the fish. 44 Those who ate of the loaves were five thousand men.
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