How come our life can be so full of suffering? The Lord created a beautiful world and gave us everything we needed to live a full life. But we were not satisfied and wanted to go our own way. The result is described in the graphic story in today's First Reading. Not that it happened in the way described but the breakdown in relationships is what we are meant to read. We went our own way and when things began to go wrong, instead of acknowledging our failure to live in harmony with God, everyone blamed everyone else. We reaped the results of our self-seeking and ended up impoverished and facing a life of hardship. It still happens in today's world. But God has not forgotten us and so, in today's Gospel, we see the crowds around Jesus with nothing to eat. Jesus, the Son of God, feels only deep compassion for them. Out of the meagre seven loaves among so many thousands, he will feed them. In a way anticipating the Eucharistic meal He will share with His disciples later on, He took the bread, blessed it, broke it and distributed it to all present. Not only did everyone have enough, there were seven baskets of leftovers.

The message of the readings is clear - our sufferings are mainly the result of our own wilfulness and stubbornness but, in spite of that, God continues to reach out in a spirit of compassion and reconciliation. Let us imitate him in our relationship with the people around us.