Did you know this is the only story that is mentioned by all four gospel writers? Jesus performs this same miracle on two separate occasions. And, you know the story well: Jesus takes His disciples out into a deserted place, a place of human loneliness, hunger, and thirst. Hungry and thirsty people follow Him out there. When the day is getting long, His disciples tell Him the obvious. “They are hungry.” Jesus responds, “Feed them yourselves.” This is the same thing He is telling us. We are likely to reply, as did His disciples, “All we’ve got are five measly barley loaves and two fish. What good is that in the face of all that has to be done?”
Recently while channel surfing I saw a preacher-looking person writing on a white board. I paused to see what would appear. There it was: today’s lesson! “Faith is taking God at His word.” That’s what happened here, isn’t it? Jesus said, “Feed them yourselves” and they did that with trust. That took faith! Would we have done the same or would we have figured there’s not enough for everyone so let’s not start a frenzy!? The disciples and their helpers trusted that they would not be embarrassed by scarcity. Pope Francis reminded us: “In the desert (where this crowd was gathered) people of faith are needed who, by the example of their own lives, keep hope alive.” Hope rose as those baskets fed family after family. Did the people realize how little food was in the baskets when they started? Was the miracle that faith moved everyone who had even a smidgen of food to share it with their neighbors? Is that why five loaves and two fish became a banquet with 12 baskets for another day?
Today we live among material progress beyond anything that our deceased Sisters and our parents could ever have imagined. But spiritually people hunger and thirst. This is the situation that prompts our Corporate Commitment: to respond to the physical, spiritual, social and emotional hungers of the people of God.
And we pledge to do just this with the compassion of Christ. That’s a tall order. If we are to have something to share, we must also take seriously God’s invitation to be fed by Him, especially in the Eucharistic feast. We can only fill the hungry crowd if we seek the Lord in Lectio, communal prayer and quiet times of reflection and conversation with the One we pledge to imitate.
We are moved to ask ourselves: “What really sustains me? What is my true sustenance? Or, am I living in a state of spiritual starvation?” If that is the case we will come up clueless when we ask ourselves, “What can I do to relieve others’ hungers?” As the saying goes: you can’t give what you ain’t got!
Imagine yourself seated on the grass that day as a witness of the miracle where over 5,000 were fed from food barely enough for one. If you received physical sustenance from that bread that had been miraculously changed by Jesus, would you ever be the same again? Could you ever eat any meal in the same way ever again?
Rest assured: when we reach out in trust it is Jesus who does the feeding. All we have to do is share His food – His tender loving mercies, His presence, and His love. You see, Jesus is not really saying – you do it all by your lonesome. Instead, Jesus is saying: “Let’s do it together!” When we look at needs and situations around us, we might be overwhelmed – but we need to count Jesus in equation. (Our limited resources) plus (JESUS) divided by (the world’s great needs) equals A MIRACLE! Maybe when it comes to ordering our spiritual food we shouldn’t hesitate to say, “Yeah…supersize me.”
My friend tells this story: one day – while walking into the Dade City hospital main entrance – a mother and her young daughter were ahead of him. Just before they got to the entrance, the little girl noticed the closed door and asked her mother how they were going to get inside. The mother smiled – walked forward – the electronic eye opened the door and they walked in. The little girl turned to the next person and said: “It’s ok – just step up and a miracle will happen.” Jesus says that same thing to us – “It’s ok – step forward in faith – the door will open – and a miracle will happen!” The crowd will be satisfied and there will be leftovers for another day, for the next crowd of hungry people who approach you.
~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
