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Gospel: John 6: 1-15
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee.
A large crowd followed him,
because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.
Jesus went up on the mountain,
and there he sat down with his disciples.
The Jewish feast of Passover was near.
When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,
he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?”
He said this to test him,
because he himself knew what he was going to do.
Philip answered him,
“Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough
for each of them to have a little.”
One of his disciples,
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people recline.”
Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
“Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted.”
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
“This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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The multiplication of the loaves is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels. Why did it make such an impression upon the disciples?
The answer can be lengthy – certainly too much for a morning reflection. But here’s one reason why this Gospel still matters today.
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The multiplication of the loaves reveals different reactions to human need.
When the disciples see the large crowd, they realize just how many are tired and hungry. Overwhelmed, they try to dismiss them. “Send them away,” they say to Jesus, as if they don’t have enough food, energy, or time to make a difference, even for a single person.
That needy, famished crowd was an overwhelming sight.
We might have a similar reaction today when turning on the news (or even looking around). We’re reminded of just how many are suffering from hunger, violence, hatred, loneliness, or discrimination in some form.
Like the disciples, we can be tempted to close our eyes or change the channel, subconsciously thinking, “send them away,” as if what we have is not enough to make a difference.
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But Jesus leads us to a different perspective. He urges us to acknowledge the needs of those around us, and to bear some sense of responsibility for helping them.
To take what little we have – five loaves and two fish, an hour out of our day – and start to feed them one at a time. When we all pitch in, it becomes enough.
This is not only true in solving problems like poverty, hunger, and loneliness; it’s also how we move the Church – even this little parish – forward. We all pitch in one loaf, one hour, at a time.
If all Christians were proactive in living out their faith, then we’d not only feed five thousand for a day; we’d feed them for life.
May the feast begin with us.
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Image credits: (1) Miracle of the Bread and Fish, Giovanni Lanfranco (2) Where Peter Is (3) Sunny 95