The First Reading speaks of the nature of love. Its origin is God. It is not only a quality or an action of God; it is his very nature. "God IS love." And so, wherever true love is found God is there too. "Everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Anyone who fails to love can never have known God." It is also clear that the initiative for love always comes from God and not from us. We never give God love; we can only give back to Him what He has already given to us. The greatest sign of that love is manifested in God sending His Son to die on the Cross for us. In the Gospel we see that same love as Jesus looks with deep compassion on the crowd and sees them as sheep without a shepherd. He shares with them the Good News of the Kingdom and then feeds them with an abundance of food. It is a clear image of God's love for his people. Our Christian life is really very simple. All we need to do is continually to pass on to others the love that God has poured into our hearts.