Strangely, the message in today’s Gospel can be difficult to hear, because the story is so well-known.
There is no doubt that this large-scale miracle is a precursor to the Sacramental Jesus, who gives of himself that we may be nourished. The idea of us eating the flesh of Christ was something that his first followers found understandably difficult. But, seen within the context of this miracle, we see Jesus providing for the nourishment of all those around him, and this helps us to understand where we are, today, as people sustained by him.
Jesus fed the crowd because he had empathy towards them. As we ruminate on the Gospel, we remember that he has that same empathy for us. It is comforting to know that Jesus already knows what we need before we even seem to know. And in this miracle, he is using the need of the people to teach his disciples what they should do, literally as though he is walking them through the scenario. He asks them where food can be bought, knowing that there is nowhere. It is as though he is instructing his disciples in the ways of providing for the flock, through total trust in him. He helps those first disciples to understand his grace through the immersion of the experience.
It has become the work of bishops and priests, nuns and monks, to feed the flock, to depend on the abundance of Jesus’ generosity even in times of great hardship. So, we pray for these people, the church leaders and pastors, those who sit us down and feed us with the promise of God’s kingdom.
But, through the grace of baptism, we all live a priesthood, and our work is to assist in that overarching mission of praise, not only living the Gospel in our personal respects but helping to feed the flock.
The handing out of the loaves and fishes is a miracle performed by one person. But we, all, as members of the crowd, are part of that miracle. In the form of bread, that miracle passed through our hands in a sharing gesture, and through ourselves as we were nourished. And, by the end of the process, we could not understand where all the food had come from. Is not grace the same as this?
The strength of God, says this miracle, is limitless and we have no capacity to understand that. And, whilst these Gospel passages offer us a glimpse into God’s incredible abundance, it is often only through being part of that crowd, and helping to pass the food from one to another, and striving to build that community of sharing, that we ourselves come to a fuller understanding of our love for God and our need for him.
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you
And with your spirit.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 6:1-15
Glory to you, O Lord.
Jesus went off to the other side of the Sea of Galilee or of Tiberias and a large crowd followed him, impressed by the signs he gave by curing the sick. Jesus climbed the hillside, and sat down there with his disciples. It was shortly before the Jewish feast of Passover.
Looking up, Jesus saw the crowds approaching and said to Philip,
‘Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat?’
He only said this to test Philip; he himself knew exactly what he was going to do. Philip answered,
Two hundred denarii would only buy enough to give them a small piece each.‘
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said,
‘There is a small boy here with five barley loaves and two fish;
but what is that between so many?’
Jesus said to them, ‘Make the people sit down.‘
There was plenty of grass there, and as many as five thousand men sat down.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and gave them out to all who were sitting ready; he then did the same with the fish, giving out as much as was wanted. When they had eaten enough he said to the disciples,
‘Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing gets wasted.’
So they picked them up, and filled twelve hampers with scraps left over from the meal of five barley loaves.
The people, seeing this sign that he had given, said,
‘This really is the prophet who is to come into the world.‘
Jesus, who could see they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, escaped back to the hills by himself.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.