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3rd Sunday of Abib - Feeding the Multitude Print E-mail
Written by Father Louka Sidarous   
Saturday, 26 July 2008

(miracles)feeding_the_multitudes-001.jpg"And the apostles, when they were returned, told Him all that they had done. And He took them, and went aside privately into a desert place." (Luke 9:10).

The service has its numerous blessings in the life of the Apostles. In it, there is the power of the word and its authority. Within it, they were assured of Satan's weakness and the chattering of his imperial power. Through it, they lived a life of surrender, relying on the arms of the Lord, without moneybag or knapsack. Also, they felt the precious value of the soul and its salvation… In general the blessings of the service are more than words in the Apostles' lives. After the Apostles returned to the Lord from their service trip, they needed to be in seclusion with the Lord. And our blessed Jesus knows their needs, so He went into seclusion with them. During their seclusion with the Lord, they informed Him with all their deeds. The seclusion session with Jesus, after the service, meant the following:

1- To be filled with the power and to renew the first flame, with which he who serves, has partially lost, after he has been occupied by being in the middle of the crowd.

2- To correct the mistakes that were encountered during the service. This might be due to the human weakness, and less experience with confronting the enemy.

"And the apostles, when they were returned, told Him all that they had done. And He took them, and went aside privately into a desert place." (Luke 9:10)

My Lord Jesus keep me in the inheritance of Your saints and your pure Apostles. Make me enjoy Your company and the unity with You. Allow me to return to You after I complete Your assignment. I will inform You with all my deeds. My Lord Jesus, everyday You send me saying, "Son, go work to day in my vineyard." (Matt. 21:28). Your continuous appointments to Your disciples doesn't end. It is at the same level with the Father setting forth His Son Jesus Christ, "As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." (John 20:21). Therefore, my Lord I am sent by You to every place You send me… To any place and to any soul. I am Your repetitive message for all the people. I am Your aroma for everyone.

They told Him everything they had done

My Lord Jesus give me this blessing to sit at Your feet, at the end of every day to inform You about everything I have done.

I will give an account of my daily responsibility. I will present to you the failures before the successes, my sins, my difficulties and my weaknesses as well as my fall… For numerously I sinned, even during service. Lord I confess to You from all my heart. I apologize for everything I have done unconsciously and my carelessly.

Lord, I thank You for Your gracefulness and blessing for me, as the disciples did… I will tell You about Your strong hand, which was with me all day. Your power, the sight which defeats Satan, and spoils all his tricks. It extinguished all his evil arrows from Your children and me.

As a whole, I will place before me all my daily duties, and will inform You with everything I did. I will rejoice and I confess at Your hands everything. I apologize for all my falls and weakness. O Lord, seclusion with You at the end of everyday, and the end of every service, is my true rest, for You said, "Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28).

"And He took them, and went aside privately into a desert place." (Luke 9:10).

There alone, away from the people, You give me a secret from Your love. There alone, You give me Your wisdom, You guide and teach me… O my soul the Lord Jesus is calling you along with the disciples saying, 'Come to a private desert place'. Now let go of everything and say, "The king has brought me into His chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in Him." (Song 1:4). There must be seclusion for those who are called Christians… The seclusion for the beginners is repentance, for the servants it is renewal of power and for those who are pious, it is the fullness of blessing.

My Lord Jesus, You have trained Your servants, through all ages, in the school of seclusion. Moses stayed forty days in the wilderness… Elias spent most of his life in seclusion with You… Paul the Apostle stayed three years in the wildernessEven You our Lord for our salvation, You have numerously spent forty days alone in the wilderness. Numerously You spent all night alone in prayer… And here, You are taking Your disciples aside privately into a desert place. Therefore, seclusion is quite different, even from the spiritual work and the church's service. For if it is required for Your holy saints, then how about me, who is poor and lost in this world.

"And the people, when they knew it, followed Him, and He received them, and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing." (Luke 9:11). P Jesus' blessing is numerous and generous. His curing divine offer never ends. The blessing awaits our needs and our acceptance feeling… For Jesus doesn't fill the full and doesn't enrich the rich… His riches are for the poor and his cures are for those in need to be cured. Let us reveal our needs for everyday, when we receive a blessing and direct assistance.

"The day began to wear away." (Luke 9:12)

The miracle, for the Lord Jesus, has its special time and arrangement. It might be at the last hours. The disciples have already depleted their patience, and they reached the limits of their wait… The mid night or the dawn might come by… This time the Lord works when the human wishes, the human power, the human wealth or the bodily health subside… When the materialistic day subsides, then the Lord opens His hands and fills all the souls from His wealth. His disciples approached Him saying, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals, for we are here in a desert place." (Luke 9:12). But He told them, "You give them to eat." (Luke 9:13).

Previously the Lord sent the disciples to find out the needs of the souls, to share their worship and to lift their faith and the life with God… Here, the time has come for the disciples to stand before the hungry multitude… The Lord Jesus wanted to lift the disciples to be at the miracle's level… He wished that the disciples would have worked in faith, and filled the multitude. But the disciples revealed their weakness and incapability. They were not yet at the work and miracle level. They were not yet full of the Compassionate Spirit, about which the Lord said, "The works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do." (John 14:12).

But now, when they introduced to Him, a simple offering "No more but five loaves and two fishes." (Luke 9:13), an offering submitted by a small child. He blessed, broke and with it filled the hungry multitude.

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