Dear Sisters and Brothers,
In today’s first reading, the Lord, through prophet Isaiah invites the people of Israel: All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; Come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk! This is the invitation that the Lord extends to each one of us, the new people of Israel! All who are thirsty for the Lord come to the living waters of Baptism. Those hungry for the Lord are given bread to eat and wine to drink at the Eucharistic table. We experience the Lord’s generosity in inviting us to be members of the Church and to satisfy our hunger for him through sharing in His Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist.
The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fish for 5000 people is a miracle born of compassion. Biblical commentators suggest that Christ was, in fact, showing us his own way of living and loving. In a homily last year, Pope Leo declared: “That is how Jesus satisfies the hunger of the crowd: he does what God does, and he teaches us to do the same … The Lord’s example is a yardstick that should guide our actions and our service: we are called to share our bread, to multiply hope and to proclaim the coming of God’s Kingdom.”
In facing the crowd who follows him and “won’t leave him alone,” Jesus does not react with irritation. He reacts with a feeling of compassion, because he knows they are not seeking him out of curiosity but out of need. Jesus is like this: he suffers together with us; he suffers for us. And the sign of Jesus’ compassion is the healing of countless people he performed. Jesus asks us to place the needs of others before our own.
The miracle of the loaves is also an invitation by the Lord to each one of us to share our resources generously. Those few loaves and fish, shared and blessed by Jesus, were enough for everyone. Jesus could have just made enough bread for 5000 people. But he did not do so! He asked the disciples how much bread they had! He takes those loaves and multiplies them. It is Jesus’ way of teaching us that all that we bring to him in offering is multiplied many times over when blessed by the Lord. As we are beneficiaries of the Lord’s generosity towards us, the Lord asks of us to be generous in sharing with our less fortunate brothers and sisters!
United in prayers,
Fr. Joy Jacob, SDB