Five loaves and two fish
It had been a long day for Jesus. After teaching and travelling for days, He got the news that His cousin, John the Baptist, had been murdered. He got into a boat and headed for a deserted place, so that He could be alone. But a vast crowd went out to see Him. Despite His weary body and saddened heart, Jesus was moved with pity for the people and He cured their sick. When evening came, the people were hungry. There was no food in that deserted place, but rather than sending the people away as the disciples suggested, Jesus performed a miracle to feed them. They all ate and were satisfied.
What does the miracle of the feeding of the multitude teach us? The obvious thing is that the miracle shows us the heart of Jesus – a holy and sacred heart: kind, generous, merciful and self-giving. As the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand prefigured the Eucharist which Jesus instituted at the Last Supper, so also, the immense love and compassion He had for the multitude prefigured the infinite love He had for sinners when He suffered and died on the Cross.
Another thing is that the miracle shows us that Jesus wanted to feed not only a few people, but all the people. Jesus fed all who were present in that deserted place – five thousand men, not including all the women and children. As Mass is celebrated all over the world, Jesus feeds all the faithful from all over the world, His own Body and Blood. Jesus loves us so much, how can we love Him back?
My Jesus I love Thee, I know Thou art mine, for Thee all the follies of sin I resign. My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou, if ever I loved Thee my Jesus ’tis now. I love Thee because Thou has first loved me, and purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree. I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow, if ever I loved Thee my Jesus ’tis now. I’ll love Thee in life and I will love Thee in death, and praise Thee as long as Thou lend me breath, and say when the death dew lies cold on my brow. If ever I loved Thee my Jesus ’tis now, I love You Jesus, I’ll always love You, now and forever, I belong to You.
In lieu of classroom classes, online classes for our Parish School of Religion are now being developed by our catechists and will be ready by September, 2020. These online classes can easily be found on our church website, and they are designed to provide continuous faith formation for our parishioners and their children in various grade levels. For school year 2020-2021, we are offering Grades 2 and 7. Parents will be the primary facilitators at home, making sure that their children will take the lessons at least once a week. Each lesson will be available in Traditional and Simplified Chinese as well as in English. With the assistance of their parents, students are required to email the answers to the questions listed for each class to their respective teachers. We are relying on the cooperation of students, parents and teachers to make the coming school year a fruitful year of learning for all!
For fiscal year 2020-2021, the goal for our church’s Archbishop’s Annual Appeal is $5,200, instead of the $2,835 which was previously reported. Total donations so far is $3,380. We still need $1,820 to reach our goal. Thank you for your support!
If you have used ink cartridges, don’t throw them away! Please bring them to the church office. Every ink cartridge we recycle gives us $2 off for our next ink purchase. Any size ink cartridge is accepted.
On August 6, 2020, Thursday from 10am to 2pm, Gwinnett Public Library will have 5 locations for you to drop off your unwanted laptops, laptop chargers, tablets and cellphones. Only these items will be accepted. Bring them to any of the following 5 locations listed below:
5570 Spalding Drive, Peachtree Corners 30092; 361 Main Street, Suwanee 30024; 455 Camp Perrin Road, Lawrenceville 30043; 265 Dacula Road, Dacula 30019; 3690 Braselton Highway, Dacula 30019.