Jesus Can Work Miracles With What We GiveRead Time 8 min

As you may know, we are in Cycle B of the liturgical year, where we walk with the Church guided by the Gospel of Mark. However, starting on the 17th Sunday and for the next four Sundays, we will read chapter 6 of the Gospel of John. Chapter 6 contains Jesus’ wonderful teaching about himself as the Bread of Life. The American Church is amid the National Eucharistic Revival, which has been such a tremendous blessing to reflect on the Eucharist, to learn more about this loving sacrament, and especially to open ourselves to what his Body, Blood, soul and divinity can do for our life.

Today’s Gospel reading recounts the magnificent miracle that opened Jesus’ great teaching about the Eucharist. All four Gospels tell us the miracle of the loaves and fish multiplications. This miracle is a prefiguration of the Eucharist, but not only that, it contains something that we can apply to our spiritual life. Of course, there is so much that we can learn from the Gospel passage, but I want to share three details that jump out to me in my prayer.

The first detail is the contrast between Ss. Philip and Andrew. St. Philip is overwhelmed by the size of the crowd. For him, it seems impossible for them to feed so many people. Like St. Philip, we can be overwhelmed by the challenges of our lives, the challenges that face the Church, the challenges of our nation and the challenges of the whole world. In contrast, we have St. Andrew, who points to the few loaves and fish a boy in the crowd has, and gives them to Jesus. Like St. Andrew, we can give the Lord whatever we have and let him do his work. Like the boy, we need to be generous. Let us not doubt the power of Jesus to work miracles with the little gifts we can offer the Lord.

The second detail that I want to point out is the barley bread. In the first reading, we read how Elisha multiplied 20 barley loaves to feed 100 people, with some leftovers. However, in the Gospel, Jesus multiples five barley loaves to feed 5,000 people, leaving 12 baskets of leftovers. John’s message is clear: Jesus is greater than the prophet. The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves points backward to significant events in the Old Testament to give us clues as to the real identity of Jesus, the Messiah. But it also points forward to the future, to what Jesus will do in the upper room the night before he died, and will continue to be present in every Eucharist. The people recline where there is much grass and verdant pastures (Psalm 23), and the Good Shepherd, after giving thanks, feeds them with rich fare that causes their cup to run over with blessings of not only earthly goodness but eternal life.

The third detail is Jesus’ instruction to gather the fragments left over. We can see the great generosity of Jesus, which after eating to their satisfaction, there were even plenty of leftovers that were collected. What we give the Lord is never wasted but is gathered into God’s plan. Whatever good we do in the name of the Lord, even those efforts that seem in vain, the Lord will use those efforts, those seemingly unused fragments, to provide nourishment to someone. The 12 baskets can symbolize God’s people, the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles, the church gathering up the remnants of a feast that will be the new covenant of God’s people. The celebration of their ultimate deliverance is by the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. The new food for the journey to the new Jerusalem, the new Promised Land, our true homeland: the Kingdom of God.

So, let us reflect on this beautiful miracle. If we feel like St. Philip, overwhelmed by our life situation, let us go to the Lord, trusting that he will give us the graces and miracles we need. Let us be like St. Andrew and the boy, generous with whatever little we have. Remember that it is not only about what Jesus can give us or do for us but also about what we can give him. It teaches us to give the Lord whatever we have — he will work miracles with it.