Matthew 14: 13-21

In today’s gospel story, the disciples suggested to Jesus to send the crowds away- to buy food for themselves. The disciples were concerned for the people. They were thoughtful enough to remind Jesus that it was already late. The people must be hungry. But their concern was up to a point. Give them a chance to buy food – to take care of themselves. Probably the disciples were feeling good for being so thoughtful.

But Jesus surprised them: “You give them something to eat,” he said. The disciples were taken by surprise. “Eat what? We don’t have enough for ourselves,” they may have said.

The only food around consisted of five loaves and two fish. John’s gospel says they belonged to a boy. When Jesus learned about the food, he called the boy over. The boy couldn’t believe his ears when Jesus said to him, “Son, will you give me what you have so I can feed these hungry people?”

But the boy trusted Jesus, and gave him the five loaves and two fish. Then the Lord fed the 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and 2 fish, with 12 baskets full of leftover.

Today the crowd is not just 5,000 or 12,000. It has mushroomed to millions. They are not only hungry; they are starving not only for bodily food, but also for truth, for peace, for justice. An international study some years ago shows that 450 million people go to bed hungry each day.

Sometimes the reality around us can be so overwhelming. It can get us depressed. As Christians we know we should be concerned. But as human beings we say, “What can I do?” I am only one person. So we pretend that the problems don’t exist. People are not really hungry. Or we say, they are hungry because they are lazy.”

Though it is true that in today’s Gospel, Jesus worked the miracle out of compassion for the crowds, his concern went deeper than their need for physical nourishment. The point behind this story is that the feeding of the 5,000 was a sign that Jesus wanted to feed his followers in a spiritual manner by means of the Holy Eucharist.

As material bread is but the shadow of the real, spiritual food in the Eucharist, so our earthly lives are but the shadow of the real, spiritual life that God has called us to.

The deepest yearnings of the human heart can find their fulfillment only in God. Only God can readily satisfy our deepest longings. He is the only bread that can nourish our hearts. And the sooner we realize it, the happier and more purposeful our lives will become.