Today, as we listen to the proclamation of the Feeding of the Multitudes, we begin a five-week reflection on the Eucharist that is known as the “Bread of Life Discourse,” from chapter 6 of Saint John’s Gospel. We get this marvelous reflection every third year, during Cycle B of the Lectionary, a little break from our consideration of Saint Mark’s Gospel.
Now, you may have heard some teacher or preacher or Bible Study leader talk about this miracle story as something less than a miracle. They may have framed it like this: “Jesus was preaching and the people were hanging on his words and it was getting late. So someone remembered the fish sandwich they brought with them and shared it with the people around them. Then other people saw that and got out the picnic they had brought, and before you knew it, everyone was eating. And much like an Italian family dinner, everyone was stuffed and there were twelve baskets of food left over.
Now, I think you probably already know how I feel about this explanation just by the way I said it. You all know me pretty well by now! But in case you don’t, I’ll be plain: it’s garbage. First of all, there is absolutely no evidence that such a thing happened. With over five thousand people there, someone would have talked about how inspired they were by Jesus’ words that they just felt they had to share their picnic. But no such story has ever been found. Secondly, if it had been that simple, people wouldn’t have continued to clamor after Jesus looking for another miracle. No, they knew a miracle had taken place, and they wanted more of it, thank you very much. There are lots of other arguments against this explanation, but let’s just be clear: it was an argument that someone dreamed up much, much later, during the nineteenth century by people who were rationalistic and had no relationship with Jesus. So yes, this explanation is pure theological trash.
The whole point of this wonderful story being told by all four Evangelists, by the way, is that it makes clear the absolutely incredible miracle that God wants nothing more than to feed us in the most wonderful way possible. He does that with a huge group of people who are not just hungry for food, but more importantly and urgently for God’s Saving Word, and he provides it working with just about nothing – five loaves and two fish – and turns that into enough, and more than enough, to feed that whole hungry crowd. Finally, he provides twelve baskets of leftovers – twelve symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel, or the whole world as they knew it – to feed even those who were not there to see that amazing miracle.
In John’s Gospel, this story is the story of the Institution of the Eucharist, because John doesn’t have a Last Supper story like the other three Gospels. And so by feeding this whole crowd, Jesus makes it clear that God’s intention is to feed us all, always and forever, with the Bread of Life and the Cup of Eternal Salvation. The Eucharist will always and forever be God’s presence in the world and in our life. Thanks be to God!
I was not able to be there but just last week, many thousands of Catholics gathered in Indianapolis for the Eucharistic Congress. Over two hundred thousand hosts were consecrated to be the Body and Blood of Christ during those days, showing that those twelve baskets of leftovers just keep on giving! That Congress was evidence of the joy that the Eucharist continues to bring us, that our God doesn’t give up on us when times look bleak, that young people still long for the presence of Jesus in their lives, and that God is still working miracles every single moment of every single day.
The Eucharistic Revival doesn’t come to a conclusion now that the Congress is over. This coming year, the focus is on mission. A Eucharistic people need to take up those baskets of leftovers and continue to feed a world hungry for newness and revival and light in a dark and sad world. It is our mission now that our hunger is fed at this celebration of the Eucharist to follow the direction we get at the end of every Holy Mass: “Go!” Go and glorify the Lord by your life. Go and proclaim the Gospel. Go and be the hands and feet of Jesus in a world that desperately needs his presence. Go and feed others with the grace with which you have been fed. Go, and give them something to eat.
So as we pray today, let’s focus on a couple of things. First: in what way do you find yourself hungry right now? What is missing in your life, especially in your spiritual life? Whatever you find that to be, give it to Jesus and let him feed you. And then second, for the mission: in what way can you take the grace of Jesus and fill up the emptiness of others? How can you enliven even just one person by your presence? What small act of love can you take from those baskets of leftovers and feed someone who is starving for salvation?
Pray all that, and listen to the Psalmist sing: “The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.”