Choosing The Path

It is 5:15 a.m. and the snow is falling.
I am outside shoveling.
I am not shoveling the driveway or sidewalk; luckily someone else will do that job.
I am shoveling a path for my dog.
She still sound asleep, cozy and comfortable inside.
She is too small to find her way in several inches of snow, so I create a way for her.
In a little while, she rises, stretches, and goes out.
She looks at other possibilities, but chooses the path I have created.
She chooses not simply out of need, but because it is clear and ready for her.
The hungry crowd at the Sea of Galilee was like a blizzard to t he disciples.
Uncertain of how to face this enormous need, they turn to Jesus.
He shows them the way.
The hungers of the human family are satisfied when disciples, in the name of Jesus, share what they have been given.
Jesus calls each of us to realize there is more than enough food, justice, peace, and love in the world.
It is the unfair distribution of those things that still keep many hungry.
In a season of giving and receiving, Jesus calls us to get up from what keeps us comfortable and look out.
A path is clear and ready for us.
The challenge is taking the first step.

-- Monsignor Gregory E.S. Malovetz

Loving Father, save me from my ow willfulness and
make me generous in following Jesus the Way.