In the Gospel of today Jesus performs a great miracle - the feeding of the thousands with simple loaves and fishes. Ever thought that as a follower of Jesus we are called to be a miracle? To be a miracle doesn’t necessarily mean tackling problems across the globe. It means making a difference, believing change is possible, even in your own living room, cubicle, neighborhood, or family. We need a miracle. How often have you heard people say that? How often have you said it? In times of trouble or despair, we want someone else to take action, someone stronger, smarter, more powerful than ourselves. The truth is we all have just enough strength, smarts, and power to make a difference, to be the miracle for someone.
We pass by miracle-workers every day. They’re often disguised as ordinary people, teachers, barbers, nurses, secretaries, cashiers, cabdrivers. People in all walks of life who don’t just go to work to bring home a paycheck. People who go to work to make a difference in the lives of others. People who remind us that no one is too small to make a big difference.
I’ve never forgotten the day I was a ball of stress and stopped to pay for parking. In most parking lots, you pull up, the person takes your money, gives you change, and you pull away. Your eyes never meet and neither of you remembers the encounter. This time, the attendant looked me in the eye, greeted me, shook my hand. He told me he loved his job and saw it as his ministry to bless people as they passed through his parking lot into the rest of their day. Where I saw a mere money collector, he saw a mission in life. He left me feeling renewed and calm.
We’re all here to matter for others, to be the miracle someone else needs. How do you do that? We can’t do everything, and what we can do, we can’t do perfectly, but that’s okay. All we need to do is make a beginning, right here, right now. If we just do that, it will make all the difference in the world