Saturday, February 10, 2018

Having Blessed Them

BEADS OF JOY 02-10-18
“Having Blessed Them”
©2018 James Dacey, Jr. OFS

My Friends,


Today’s Gospel: Mark 8:1-10 (Feeding of The 4 Thousand)
“In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him, and said to them, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat; and if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come a long way." And his disciples answered him, "How can one feed these men with bread here in the desert?" And he asked them, "How many loaves have you?" They said, "Seven." And he commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish; and having blessed them, he commanded that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away; and immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.”

Reflection:
Do you hunger for Jesus? …or do you hunger for one of my delicious trays of lasagna? Opps, sorry I didn’t mean for that to slip out. But, you did smile, so it was all worth it. Seriously, we should hunger more for Jesus than we do for any earthly food. That will be just more lasagna for me, opps, I digress. I’m sorry. I’m feeling very goofy and happy this morning, sorry if I am getting my happiness all over the page. Well, actually my happiness has a foundation of my love for my Lord and that’s why I am so happy and bubbly this morning. Oh boy, bubbly is not a manly word, ok, ok, ok, I’ll stop. Today we should focus on Jesus Christ the true bread of life, the bread which we should hunger.  

This wonderful blessed miracle has me thinking of a family tradition of ours that for many many years, when all 7 of us, (even now, once in a while) would sit around the table for dinner we would do this. Chrissy loved to bake rolls with our meals, especially our Italian meals. So as a habit (tradition), we hold hands, pray grace together out-loud, I’d grab a roll out of the basket, break off a piece, hand it to Chrissy and she would do the same and so would all the kids. What was left of that roll would come back to me and we’d all eat our piece and we’d all begin our meal. Just last night speaking of tradition, Johnny, Travis’ friend cooked us Chicken Carbonara. Holy Cannoli was that really good. They cooked for us, they served us, we held hands prayed out-loud, we all ate, and they cleaned the entire kitchen, it was so nice.

How can we connect with Jesus when it comes to uniting ourselves with Him? Jesus Himself gave us the Eucharist. Let us embrace this wonderful blessed part of Him as often as we possibly can. I know for most that anything beyond Sunday is impossible, Jesus knows that; but to hunger after Him and desire Him is just as important and He knows that too. Jesus alone should satisfy our hunger pangs.

Pondering these thoughts today: Today I am so excited because 2018 is becoming a year beyond our wildest dreams. I can see how our Lord has been preparing the way for us as a family and for me as a writer. And just this week my son Travis found an affordable, really nice newly remolded apartment only 6 miles away with all new appliances, I am so happy for him. Sometimes through the roughest of waters after we all get knocked around and we are exhausted, the water calms and the sun is shining and there stands Jesus serving loaves and fishes to us to fulfill our deepest hunger after the long exhausting stormy trip. We must never surrender our faith or lose hope, no matter how dark it gets or how hard it gets or even if it gets really sad. There is a time and place for all of those things on this journey; the key to survival is keeping our eyes focused on Jesus Christ.


LOVE YOU GUYS !!!!

Your brother in Christ Jesus 
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS

Today is Saturday: We pray the Joyful Mysteries:

The Joyful Mysteries

1. The Annunciation (Humility) – Luke 1:26-28
2. The Visitation (Love of Neighbor) – Luke 1:39-45
3. The Birth of Jesus (Poverty of Spirit) – Luke 2:1-20
4. The Presentation (Purity of Mind and Spirit) – Luke 2:22-38
5. Finding in The Temple (Obedience) –Luke 2:41-50

I simply love Saturday mornings, because Saturday like every other day of the week -begins with the Rosary.

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