O.T. XVIII. Is 55:1-3; Rom 8:35, 37-39; Mat 14: 13-21 

Mother Teresa relates a story showing how generous the poor are, and how ready to share what little they have with others because they themselves have experienced hunger and poverty. Learning of a poor Hindu family in Calcutta who had been starving for many days, Mother Teresa visited them and gave a parcel of rice to the mother of the family.   She was surprised to see that the woman divided the rice into two equal portions and gave one to her Moslem neighbor.    When Mother Teresa asked her why she had done such a sacrificial deed, the woman replied: “My family can manage with half of what you brought.  My neighbor’s family is in greater need because they have several children who are starving." In Matthew’s account of the miraculous feeding of 5000 people the apostles shared their lunch while in John's account, a small boy showed this same kind of generosity by sharing his small lunch with Jesus to feed a multitude.

The account of Jesus feeding the Five Thousand with five loaves and two fish may be the best-known of Jesus' miracles. Dried fish, may be the ancient Galilean equivalent of cheese or ham, what we usually nibble in our lunchtime sandwich.

The multiplication of the loaves is described six times in the Gospels: twice in Matthew and Mark and once each in Luke and John.  This is the only miracle, other than the resurrection, that is told in all four gospels, a fact that speaks of its importance to the early church.

This story of the feeding of the five thousand then is told us as deeply symbolic story, a historic incident that points us forward to the Eucharist. Remember also that the Mass is a promise of the feast of the Messiah at the end of time, or heaven. However the story also reminds us of the Exodus far of in the past history of God’s people, when God fed the people in the desert on manna after their escape from slavery in Egypt. Matthew through this story and many others in the gospel shows us that Jesus is the new and greater Moses. Moses had been the leader of God’s people centuries previously, and, traditionally, the person to whom the Law was revealed. Matthew is telling us that Jesus is truly the Messiah, the giver of the new law of love, the Saviour of God’s people, come to inaugurate God’s kingdom.

The early Christian community especially cherished this story because they saw this event as anticipating the Eucharist. The way in which Jesus’ actions are described [“looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples,"] makes a connection with Jesus’ Last Supper and the Church’s celebration of the Eucharist.

The story should be treated as a witness to the power of God and an implicit declaration of Jesus’ Divinity. The numbers mentioned in here are symbolic. The twelve baskets clearly represent the twelve tribes of Israel as well as the twelve apostles who are part of the New Israel. They will become the twelve sources of expressing God's generous concern for his people. The language used echoes that of Moses feeding the people in the desert. The number 5 might refer in some way to the Pentateuch.

Jesus makes us aware that our resources are woefully inadequate to meet the need, but we are to bring what resources we have to Jesus. We place them in his hands to do what he wishes with them, and in the process, release control to him. He in turn blesses them and places them back in our hands, multiplied, more powerful than we could have imagined.

The readings tell us that God really cares about His people and that there is enough and more than enough for everybody. The problem in feeding the world’s hungry population lies with our political lack of will, our economic system biased in favor of the affluent and our tendency to blame the victims of social tragedies such as famine.   We all share responsibility for the fact that populations are undernourished. Therefore, it is necessary to arouse a sense of responsibility in individuals, especially among those more blessed with this world’s goods.” (Pope John XXIII, Mater et Magistra (1961) 157-58). 

As Christians we have to commit ourselves to share and to work with God in communicating His compassion to all. God is a caring Father, but He wants our co-operation. That’s what the early Christians did, generously sharing what they had with the needy.  They were convinced that everything they needed to experience a fulfilling life was already there, in the gifts and talents of the people around them. People of our time have to be encouraged to share, even when they think they have nothing to offer. Whatever we offer through Jesus will have a life-giving effect in those who receive it.

We can begin our own humble efforts at "sharing" right here in our parish by participating in the works of charity done by organizations like St. Vincent DePaul Society, the Foresters,  the Knights of Columbus and so many other volunteer groups. We may say, “I do not have enough money or talent to make any difference.”   The Bible guarantees that every believer has at least one gift from the Holy Spirit. This is our one “tiny fish.” Perhaps our “fish” is not money, but a talent or an ability that God has given us. We all have something. As we begin to give, we will discover that the Lord moves in where we are not adequate, and He abundantly supplies what is needed. As we continue with this Mass where Jesus again performs a miracle for us changing the bread into his body and wine into his blood, let’s offer us as we are, totally and unreservedly into his hands so that he may transform us and make us his feet to reach out to others, make us his hearts to love others and his hands to embrace others.