Give

“But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’” (Mark 6:37).

The Garden of Gethsemane (de Maistre)

I was listening to a talk given to working mothers the other day.  The focus of the talk was that as a working mother we should be prepared to first attend to their own needs so that they would then be able to attend to the needs of their families and colleagues in the workplace.

I have been thinking about that today as I have been thinking about how many times I need to balance the desire to give with the need to take.

It is a strange thing.  After all, I am still a daughter.  And though I try very hard to be a good daughter to my parents, I am very often a daughter who takes from my parents.  I very often seek counsel of my mother.  Sometimes I ask her to advise me on matters that are difficult or stressful.  Sometimes she knows what could help in those situations and other times they overwhelm her as much as they overwhelm me.

I have been thinking about this over the last few days and weeks.

You see, we can only give from what we already have.  If our tank is empty – so to speak – then we are unable to offer anything to anyone else to fill their cup.  And I have been reflecting on this today…

When the crowd were hungry the apostles went out and looked for someone who had food.  They could not feed the crowd if they had nothing at all to offer.  And I have been thinking about that today.  You see, even though they did not find enough food for the whole crowd, they found something with which to go to God.  They could take an offering of something.  They did not go to Him without any effort and say, Oh well, God, please just figure this out yourself.  Instead, they went to Him and said, this is all that we can offer, please make this enough…

“But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’  They said to him, ‘That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?’  ‘How many loaves do you have?’ he asked. ‘Go and see.’  When they found out, they said, ‘Five—and two fish.’  Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.  Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.  They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.  The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.” (Mark 6:37-44).

Saint Josemaria wrote in “Furrow” at 917, “Nobody can give what he does not have.”

And I have been thinking about this today.  For there is merit in ensuring that my cup is filled in some way so that I can our blessings into the cups of others.  And that is a prayer that I pray today – for all the mothers that their cups may be filled…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.