Living with Christ Morning Prayer

Living with Christ Morning Prayer
December 4, 2013
St. John Damascene

They all ate and were satisfied.

Lord, your multiplication of the loaves and fishes
made such an impression on your followers
that versions of the event appear in all the gospels,
sometimes more than once.

I think the miracle is even greater
when I think that the people
who sat on the ground that day
were probably much like me.
We human beings are worriers.
And one of our main worries is the future,
whether we will have enough-
food, shelter, income, good health, you name it.

I can see me sitting on the ground that day,
watching the baskets come around,
eating your bread and fish until I was stuffed,
and then stuffing my pockets and traveling bag
with all the bread and fish I could carry-
for me and for my family back home.
There might be enough food today,
but what about tomorrow?

And with all the stuffing of stomachs
and pockets and bags,
there were still seven baskets left over!
How generous you are, Lord!
You don't worry about running out.
You give without counting the cost.

Help me, Lord, to live in you,
and learn from you.
Help me to be a good steward of my resources,
but help me never to let fear of scarcity
keep me from giving as you give.
Help me to trust that everything I have is yours,
and help me to be generous, as you are generous.

And just as you feed me with yourself in the Eucharist,
help me today to join you in being the baskets
of bread and fish
you bring to a world
hungry in so many ways.
Amen.

For a prayer for today from St. John of Damascus, see page 186 in the December issue of Living with Christ.