Translation of the Holy Gospel According to Mark
At that time, when there was a great multitude with Jesus, and they 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 home, they will faint in the way: for some of them came from afar off. 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 people to sit down on the ground. And taking the seven loaves, giving thanks, He broke and gave to His disciples to set 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.
A Message From St. Pope John Paul II’s “To the Sister Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament”, July, 6th, 2001.
The ministry of mercy to the children of God afflicted by “old” and “new” forms of poverty is one of the characteristic elements of the presence of the Church in the third millennium. As the unequivocal words of the Gospel remind us, there is a special presence of Christ in the poor, and this requires the Church to make a preferential option for them (Novo millennio ineunte, n. 49).
Champion, WI, after 1890
In this spirit, one sees the significance of your decision to focus [one’s] reflections on the sharing of bread, of the Word and of the mission, after the example of Christ who seeing the hungry crowd that followed him, had compassion (cf. Mark 8:1-9).
How can the disciple of the Lord remain faithful to this vocation, if he does not cultivate an enduring, daily dialogue of love with Him in listening to the Word of God, in prayer and in contemplation?
[It is necessary] to adore “the Most Blessed Sacrament with the most ardent love” and to draw “from it the flame of charity towards your neighbour”. This is not only a spiritual guideline but a precise program of life. In the Eucharist the Christian reaches the most complete spiritual intimacy with the Lord of life and with His help, is elevated to the contemplation of love in the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity.
What contentment of soul (cf. Luke 9:17) is experienced in the intense hours passed in adoration before the Lord of history! With this eucharistic conscience, [St. Francesco] Spinelli recommended to you: Walk in charity; let the fire of charity be finally set ablaze in your souls, love your God and put nothing, nothing as equal to or above Him (Circ. 32).
…
Royal Heart of Jesus Sovereign Priest,
Wausaw, WI.
May your lives… be constantly marked by love for Christ in the Eucharist, service to the poor, an icon of Christ, and the practice of an always generous forgiveness, the instrument of a more closely united community. May the Eucharist, the perfect memorial of the sacrifice of Christ, be the paradigm of your personal lives.