July 5, 2026
The Gospel according to St. Mark, viii. 1-9.
“At that time, when there was a great multitude with Jesus, and had nothing to eat, calling His disciples together, He saith to them: I have compassion on the multitude, for behold they have now been with Me three days, and have nothing to eat; and if I shall send them away fasting to their homes, they will faint in the way, for some of them came from afar. And His disciples answered Him: From whence can any one fill them here with bread, in the wilderness? And He asked them: How many loaves have ye? Who said: Seven. And He commanded the multitude to sit down upon the ground. And taking the seven loaves, giving thanks, He broke, and gave to His disciples for to set before them: and they set them before the people. And they had a few little fishes, and He blessed them, and commanded them to be set before them. And they did eat, and were filled; and they took up that which was left of the fragments, seven baskets; and they that had eaten were about four thousand; and He sent them away.”
Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation
We will meditate to-morrow upon the gospel of the day, and we shall learn from it: 1st, to abandon ourselves to Providence; 2d, to co-operate with Providence. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to see, adore, and bless Providence in all the events of life; 2d, never to allow ourselves to give way to discouragement or anxiety, still less to murmurs in the midst of reverses and contrarieties. We will retain as our spiritual nosegay the words of Our Lord in the gospel of the day, which recall to us the tenderness of Providence towards us: “I have compassion on the multitude” (Mark viii. 2).
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore Our Lord followed in the desert by the crowd, who, persuaded that nothing will be wanting to them when they are following Him, rest the care of providing them with food upon the omnipotent and good providence of their divine Saviour. Let us admire the manner in which He justifies the confidence of these good people, is touched with compassion for their needs, and comes to their succour by means of the multiplication of bread. Let us render to Him all our homage with this object in view.
FIRST POINT
On Abandonment to Providence
Let us consider that nothing is done in the universe without God willing or permitting it. He alone rules everything with infinite wisdom, with a strength which nothing can resist, and with a more than paternal goodness, to such a point that not even a hair falls from our head without His permission (Luke xxi. 18). “Thy providence, O Father, governeth it,” says the Book of Wisdom (Wis. xiv. 3); and to appreciate without reference to Providence the events which take place here below, the revolutions which occur in families, in towns, and in states, in the Church, and throughout the whole universe, would be to judge of events like a pagan. In addition to this general providence, God has a special providence which He exercises towards those who love Him. He watches over them with particular tenderness and attention, as over His favourite friends, His cherished children, and He shows Himself to be rich in goodness and mercy towards them (Rom. x. 12). Whence it follows, that not to abandon ourselves with full confidence to His providence is to misunderstand His power, which can do all things; His goodness, which wills all kinds of good on our behalf; His wisdom, whose lights are always infinite; His ends, which are always most holy, and His means for attaining them, which are always most admirable. Often His reasons are unknown to us, His designs escape our short-sightedness; but what we cannot comprehend here below we shall understand in heaven (John xiii. 7); in heaven, where we shall sing that God has done all things well (Mark vii. 37). Meantime, let us live in a state of abandonment and confidence. This abandonment will be a source of peace and consolation for us. Persuaded that God watches over us, we shall be at rest; and, looking upon ourselves as beloved children in the arms of the best of fathers, we shall say: Why distress and trouble myself? why afflict myself? Even when human means fail, and men are opposed to me, I will rejoice as for an opportunity which enables me more perfectly to practise holy abandonment to Providence and confidence in its goodness. Even when I may have sinned, I will always have confidence, because God is the Father of the repentant prodigal and has promised pardon to the publican who humbles himself. Consequently, I ought always to confide in God, without being troubled or allowing myself to be cast down.
SECOND POINT
On Co-operation with Providence
God does not wish that our abandonment to His Providence should be idle. He desires that we should give Him our concurrence, that we should be His helps and His arms (I. Cor. iii. 9). In what has respect to us personally, He desires that we should do everything which depends upon us, awaiting success not from our own efforts, but from His goodness, which alone can enable us to succeed; and as regards our neighbour, He desires us to be good, charitable, compassionate, the worthy agents of His love in doing good to men. Happy are those who, entering into these designs of God, endeavour to do their neighbour all the good they can, and to show themselves in everything like to Jesus Christ, full of compassion for human misery, full of kindness towards all to whom they can render any service! They will at the last day enjoy the happiness of hearing from the mouth of the Judge these sweet words: “Come, ye blessed of My Father. … I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave Me to drink” (Matt. xxv. 34, 35). Do we thus co-operate with Divine Providence, whether as regards ourselves or our neighbour? What reproaches have we not to address to ourselves on this subject!
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.