Today, the Gospel of John tells us the story of a mighty God who can do anything. God cannot fail. In today’s Gospel passage of the feeding of the five thousand and the multiplication of the loaves and fish, we see that God blesses us abundantly in ways that we can only imagine.
A great affirmation that I heard says, “Don’t tell God how big your problems are but tell your problems how big God is.” In today’s gospel, the disciples are faced with the problem of how to feed more than five thousand people with a few fish and some bread. Today’s Gospel is a Gospel of hope. As Jesus made the five barley loaves and two fish more than enough to feed more than five thousand people, Jesus will also work with what we have to provide for our needs. Never think that the blessings we have are too small or that our problems are too big. When we give our all to God, he can transform what we think is too small into that which can satisfy our hunger and thirst. Our worries, our weakness, and our humanness are all transformed by the mighty hand of God.
In John’s Gospel, the multiplication story goes into detail about how Jesus blessed the barley bread and fish and shared it with the crowd. Many writers say that fish and bread are the food of the poor. God feeds and nourishes us both physically and spiritually. In this story and at every Eucharist we are sent to serve the poorest among us.
The word Eucharist comes from the Greek phrase meaning “to give thanks.” The psalmist King David says, “What can I give to the Lord for all his goodness to me?” We are grateful that we are fed by Jesus himself, and we are sent to serve others. These actions speak louder than words.
In this miracle, Jesus transforms our simple gifts as he did the five barley loaves and two fish into bread for the world. The life that comes from this bread is our efforts transform by God. At every Eucharist, saints and sinners sit down together. The lost and forsaken are gathered around. All of us are given to share of the same bread and cup as the one body of Christ.