Sufficiently Insufficient

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Easter Feria

Today's Readings:
[ Acts 5:34-42; Ps 27:1-8, 17-18; Jn 6:1-15 ]

In today’s readings, we are invited into a quiet but radical trust, one that does not grasp for control, but rests in the providence of God.

In Acts, Gamaliel offers a surprising word of wisdom: “If this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them”. The apostles, beaten and warned, leave “rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.” There is a kind of freedom here that Franciscan spirituality knows well—the freedom that comes from letting go of outcomes. St. Francis embraced a life where success was not measured by power or approval, but by faithfulness. If the work is God’s, it will endure. If not, no striving can save it.

Psalm 27 echoes this trust with longing and tenderness: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” and “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” This is not a distant or abstract faith, it is deeply relational. The heart of the Franciscan life is not achievement, but communion. To seek the face of the Lord in all things—in creation, in neighbour, in suffering—is to discover that we are never abandoned: “Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation!”

Then in John, we witness Jesus feeding the multitude with five loaves and two fish. The miracle begins not with abundance, but with scarcity... something small, almost laughably insufficient. Yet Jesus receives it, gives thanks, and it becomes more than enough. This is the logic of grace. Francis would call this “holy poverty”: offering what little we have, trusting that God will multiply it for the good of all.

The world tells us to accumulate, to secure, to control. But the Gospel invites us to trust, to give, and to rejoice, even when the path includes hardship. Today’s readings remind us that God’s work does not depend on our strength, but on our willingness. Bring your small loaves. Offer your imperfect faith. Seek His face.

And leave the rest to Him.

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