INTRODUCTION
Today’s readings teach us how physical or material needs cannot be neglected in our pastoral care of souls. Right from the beginning God has always presented himself as a father who understands the needs of his children, and at no time has he proven to be indifferent to their sufferings. A close look at the unfolding of the history of salvation will make us to see how God has always fed his people with abundance; emblematic are the the experiences of the patriarchs and the people of the desert. Today the prophet Elisha demonstratesthis very dimension of God’s care. And John in the Gospel presents this famous and longest chapter that starts with the material satisfaction of the people and culminates with the discourse on the Eucharist. These readings today remind us of the need to have the eyes and the heart of God to be able to see the needs of our brothers and sisters and to be moved by compassion to respond accordingly. Indifference is ungodly. Charity is godly and at the same time the heart of the Gospels.
FIRST READING: 2 Kings 4:42-44
The first reading is a foretaste of the Gospel. It prefigures Johannian account of the famous miraculous feeding of more than five thousand people by Jesus with five barley loaves and two dried fish. The beautiful coincidence between the miracle wrought by God through Elisha and the miracle of Jeeus tells us how God works marvels and meets the needs of his people through the generous services of men of good will.
The story of Elisha retraces that of Moses, the great prophet who fed God’s people in the wilderness (see Exodus 16). Before his demise, Moses told the people that God would send a prophet like him (see Deuteronomy18:15-19). Certainly we would imagine that the prophet of which Moses spoke of might have been the likes of Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah etc who distinguished themselves as great prophets in the life and history of the chosen people. But then, the only biblical figure that represented a similar episode (though a more perfect episode) of the life and mission of Moses is Jesus. The spontaneous response of the crowd in today’s Gospel identifies Jesus as that great prophet that God promised to send to his people. The blending of the action of Elisha and that of Jesus projects an indispensable dimension of the pastoral character of the Church. The Church is not only concerned with the ministry of the Word and the Sacraments. Charity is an emblem of her witnessing to the Gospel in its concrete form in the daily life of the people. Thus it is a reminder to reinvigorate her vocation of charity. In a particular way, every believer is called to be a bearer of the bread of the hungry. Faith grows when our spiritual life interacts with the suffering of the people. In other words, God is made manifest when the Gospel responds to the concrete needs of the poor.
SECOND READING: Ephesians 4:1-6
St. Paul, in prison, reminds the Ephesians that Jesus united the Jews and the Gentiles, bringing them together as Christians in one Faith and one Baptism. Hence, he advises them to keep this unity intact as one body and one spirit by living as true Christians “bearing with one another inlove,” with humility, gentleness, patience and peace. At present, we are the community that Paul describes. We are the ones called to feed the hungry today. As members of the body of Christ, we need to remember that miracles can happen through our prayers, our donations, and our hands when we help Him to distribute to the hungry the food destined for all by our generous God. In this Eucharist, we are made one Body with the Lord, as we hear in today’s Epistle.
GOSPEL: John 6:1-15
Jesus’ withdrawals into the wilderness were probably intended to provide Jesus and the apostles with periods of rest, reflection, and extended private teaching. In addition, withdrawal might have allowed them to avoid danger from those hostile to Jesus, particularly after the execution of John the Baptist. Today’s Gospel shows us one such incident. Here, we see Jesus trying, in vain, to withdraw with the apostles from the crowds at Capernaum by sailing to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus stepped ashore near a remote village of Bethsaida, where the River Jordan flows into the north end of the Sea of Galilee but faced the large crowd which had pursued them around the Sea on foot. Jesus’ immediate reaction was one of deep compassion. Near the place where they had landed, there was a small grassy plain, and there the Master began to heal the sick among them and to teach them at length. This was the scene of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand as described in today’s Gospel.
A great miracle before a multitude:
The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 is found in all four Gospels, although the context and emphasis vary. This is the only miracle, other than the resurrection, that is told in all the Gospels, a fact that speaks of its importance to the early Church. Compare Mk 6:35-44 with Mt 14:13-21, Lk 9:12-17, and Jn 6:1-14. Matthew says that there were about 5,000 men, not including women and children. This miraculous feeding in the deserted place had precedents: Moses, Elijah, and Elisha had each fed people without resources. The present miracle resembles particularly the one performed by Elisha (2 Kgs 4:42-44). In both cases, unlike the manna in the desert, there were leftovers, for everyone there ate, and had enough and more than enough to be filled. This miracle, then, is greater than the manna of the Exodus. The Gospel story should be treated as a witness to the power of God and an implicit declaration of Jesus’ Divinity. The miracle also shows how, to this day, Jesus empowers believers to continue Jesus’ works of compassion. We may regard the incident both as a miracle of Divine providence and also as a Messianic sign in which Jesus multiplied loaves and fish in order to feed the hungry listeners. The lesson for every Christian is that no matter how impossible his or her assignments may seem, with Divine help they can be done because, “nothing will be impossible with God” (Lk 1:37). St. Augustine reflects on this miracle that is meant to lead the human mind through visible things to the perception of the Divine: “Christ did what God does. Just as God multiplies a few seeds into a whole field of wheat, so Christ multiplies the five loaves in His hands – for there is power in the hands of Christ. Those five loaves were like seeds, not because they were cast on the earth but because they were multiplied by the One Who made the earth. This miracle was presented to our senses to stimulate our minds; it was put before our eyes in order to engage our understanding and so make us marvel at the God we do not see because of His works which we do see.”
A symbol of the Eucharist:
The multiplication of the loaves is the only miracle from Jesus’ public ministry narrated in all four Gospels with Eucharistic overtones. The early Christian community saw this event as anticipating the Eucharist. John uses this story in his Gospel to introduce Jesus’ profound and extended reflection on the Eucharist and the Bread of Life. The Eucharistic coloring of the multiplication of bread is clear in Jesus’ blessing, breaking, and giving the loaves. Thus, the miracle itself becomes a symbol of the Eucharist, the sacrament of unity. The sharing of the broken bread is a sign of a community that is expected to share and provide in abundance for the needs of its members. Our word Eucharist is taken from the Greek language and describes an action: “to give thanks.” In the Eucharist we are fed by Jesus Himself, and we are sent to serve others. Matthew invites us to see this miracle as a type or symbol explaining the Sacrament’s meaning. It is not for nothing that John accounts for the source of the loaves and the fish (from a young boy in the midst of the crowd). Man is never totally passive in his interaction with his God. He needs God as much as God needs him for himself (man). Would Jesus had provided for the crowd if there were not to be the offerings from the little boy? Probably yes, probably no. “God is helpless without us”. In other words, He needs us in order to help us. That is exactly the symbol of the offering made by the little boy.
At each mass, we bring our bread and wine, fruits of our labour (though gifts from God) so that they could be transformed into a more precious, lasting and incorruptible food and a pledge for eternal life (Eucharist). The bread and wine symbolize the offering, the offering of our humanity in a holy exchange of his divinity which comes to dwell in us.
This page of John’s Gospel not only anticipates the institution of the Eucharist at the last supper, it equally points to the Messianic Wedding Banquet of Heaven. The crowd depicts the variety of persons who will grace the heavenly Banquet as the same John envisions in the book of Revelation (Rev. 7:9).
Each time we gather to celebrate the Eucharist, we are reminded that it is re-presentation or re-enactment of the one perfect sacrifice of God. It is the anamnesis of the self giving of Christ to his Church as a perpetual and salvific gift of himself. The culminating symbolism of the Eucharist is depicted in its eschatological dimension. It anticipates the heavenly liturgy where Christ the priest, the altar and the victim will preside over the table of the Eucharist at the end of time.
Life messages
1) “You give them something to eat”:
The Gospel story teaches that Jesus meets the most basic human need, hunger, with generosity and compassion. Today’s readings also tell us that God really cares about His people and that there is enough and more than enough for everybody.
Whatever we have is given to us by God. It is for this singular fact that charity is an obligation and not an option. How often do we acquire wealth for ourselves and for our generations without extending our hands to others? How do we look at those who are less privileged than us? How often have we settled with indifference while the other dies in suffering? Sometimes we have played an active role of sending away those that need our help with the pretence that there are those out there who can help? We give millions of excuses why we cannot help.
And are prone to easily blame God. We find it equally too easy to blame governments, for people’s misfortunes or poverty while we forget that things can actually get better for many people if we learn to contribute in our individual little ways. Jesus stopped the disciples from unnecessary complaints and justification to escape helping the helpless crowd by saying. The “You give them something to eat” is a counter response to the doubt of Philip who though was realistic (because of the meager quantity of food at hand) but at the same time reacted out of lack of strong will to help. It is as if he simply told Jesus said: “The situation is hopeless; we cannot do anything.”
2) God blesses those who share their talents, with loving commitment:
Another untold story about the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves is the willingness of the young lad to offer all that he had. Let’s notice that the name was not mentioned (it is could be anyone of us). I have also tried to imagine why he was probably the only person among the crowd who had something with him, and why he was noticed and singled out alone from the crowd. We can derive several meanings from the passage. However, if we read the Gospel with the eyes of John, then we will understand that the presence of and the action of the lad goes beyond simple act of giving. He represents all who understand that whatever they have is a gift that must be used at the service of others. He equally represents those who understand what it means to trust the Lord. He might have imagined how the little he had could serve the crowd, yet he never retracted in his trust about the power of God. Those who live in and by the Spirit of God excel when it seems impossible to excel simply because of their trust in the power of God.
You have never trusted God with your time, or your talent, or your treasure…all your resources…this is the time to start. Let us offer ourselves and whatever we have to God saying, “Here is what I am and what I have Lord; use me; use it.” And He will bless us and bless our offering, amplifying it beyond our expectations. When we give what we have to God, and we ask Him to bless it, that is when miracle happens. We, too, can perform wonders in our own time and place, by practicing the four “Eucharistic verbs” of Jesus: Take humbly and generously what God gives us, bless it by offering it to others in God’s love, break it off from our own needs and interests for the sake of others, give it away with joy-filled gratitude to God who has blessed us with so much. We are called by Christ to become the Eucharist we receive at this altar, giving thanks for what we have received by sharing those gifts — our talents, our riches, ourselves – so that He can use them and us to work miracles in creating communities of joyful Faith. (Cfr. Fr. Anthony Kadavil).
PRAYER
God, You are the maker of Heaven and earth and all that they contain. From age to age you never cease to show how generous You are to your creatures. Help us to understand how You so much care and provide for us even when we do not deserve it and so come to trust in you, our hope and only source of life, who live and reign with the Son and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
PAX VOBIS!
