Both our Old Testament and Gospel readings this week deal with themes of satisfaction and abundance. Reflecting on the story of David and Bathsheba and the feeding of the 5,000, God calls us to challenge the scarcity mindset prevalent in our culture today and explore how true fulfillment and satisfaction comes from our faith and relationship with God.

God dwells among us: in the Ark, in the Temple, in Jesus, in the Spirit. He does not stand far-off but has drawn close, close enough to touch.

Jesus pours out his compassion on his people, pushing us to grow in him, and caring our physical and spiritual health. Whether we be as devout and knowledgeable of him as his apostles or as lost as those sheep without a shepherd, the love that Jesus shows for his people is without bounds. All we have to do is say yes and come into the embrace of his open arms.

In the tragic tale of the beheading of John the Baptist, is it possible to find a glimmer of hope? What can we glean about the Kingdom of Heaven in the relationship between John the Baptist and Herod? 

Today’s readings give us two stories of dancing: one party ends with John’s disciples laying his body in a tomb, and the other with all of Israel under King David joyfully returning home. But, in the end, they are both stories that point to how all of our lives and deaths are caught up in the life and death –– and life, again! –– of Jesus Christ.

As a Light for the City, we ask God to create here a missional ecosystem, a catalyzing Kingdom movement, that each of us would more and more embrace all the opportunities our Lord gives us to bless those he places before us in all spheres of life.

The Church is a community of people entirely dependent on the grace and love of Jesus Christ, as shown by the Gospel story of Jesus being rejected in his hometown of Nazareth and the disciples being sent out with nothing but faith and the support of others. Our participation in the Eucharist and our journeys of discernment are deeply rooted in this reliance on Christ and our mutual love and support of one another as the Body of Christ.

The context for the growth of our faith is when we are at the end of our rope.

Just as Jesus has touched down in the world in his body as an offering for you and for me, so he empowers us to be his physical presence to a world desperately in need of healing, peace, and salvation.