This generosity of God is revealed in the 2nd Reading for “neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Then, in the Gospel, God’s love is abundantly clear as He multiplied food for all to eat and be satisfied.
God is abundantly lavish, that is apparent and in today’s Gospel we get to witness this largesse of our Lord at work. Consider these facts. He had laboured and His miracles were numerous. Yet when He returned to Nazareth, He was rejected by the townsfolk. Then He received news of His cousin’s untimely execution and while trying to find some time for Himself, the crowd followed Him. Even the disciples knew when to stop by telling Him to send the people away. He did not and would not. Instead, He showed us how God’s blessing can be like.
Despite that the world still suffers from wants. We appear to live in a world of scarcity. Otherwise how do we account for the tendency to hoard. This miracle of multiplication teaches us one thing about benevolence, that is, God is never stingy. However, we are somewhat mechanical or sceptical. We are conditioned to want to know and explain the mechanics involved in the multiplication. This miracle confounds and we want to be able, in the eyes of our minds, to account for how a piece of fish or a piece of bread can materially multiply. In a way, our mechanical mindset becomes a mental cage because it is incapable of capturing the infinite divine initiative. Our mechanical minds tries to grasp reality from the narrow perspective of natural law. In fact, we are scientifically inclined to dismiss this miracle as a possibility because science requires repeatability.
Some even argue that this miracle was basically Christ changing the way people behave towards each other. In other words, the multiplication is more psychological manipulation rather than a physical possibility. Sadly, what is truly a supernatural act is now downgraded to merely a gesture of kindness. More than an act of wonder, the miracle highlights God’s dependability. Can we trust Him? Our rational mind likes to work things out. Somehow we need a fail-safe mechanism just in case trusting God does not work, at least we are not left hanging or flailing in the wind.
The experience of scarcity is not solved by wealth or its generation. Making money, generating wealth or promoting prosperity are amazing enterprises. The question we should be asking is, “what for?”. Clearly, the goal of a better life is not a bad proposition. The pertinent question is quantum. How much do we need in order to have a good life? The answer reflects our personal encounter with scarcity.
Have you ever consider how some people who have not, they seem to be happier and they are able to get on with life? Have you seen those who are comfortable but they are not happy? It is a paradox. We believe that scarcity can be cured by more but what abundance can create is less satisfaction. We become worried that there is not enough and worse, we are bothered by others who appear to have more.
The Gospel shows us that God can be trusted. The miracle is out of this world simply because God’s ways or methods are not ours. For a moment, refrain from the scientific curiosity of the mechanics of multiplication or even from trying to reduce God’s ability to bless us to an exercise in psychological persuasion of those who are there listening to Jesus. Then, we might be able to appreciate that God is indeed the one who looks after us and that we can never be in want when He is in charge.
When we surrender our fears to God, our need to be in control in case He fails us, then He can work miracles. When we are not chased by our wants or desires or demands, God will give us exactly what we need. The 12 baskets full of leftovers are proofs that God is generous beyond our needs. He gives us more than enough for whatever is necessary for our sustenance.
Perhaps the most important truth of the miracle of the multiplication is that it prefigures the Eucharist. It is a prelude to Christ’s greatest gift to us which is the Mass we celebrate. Two points we can consider here. The narrative itself mirrors the four Eucharistic verbs. He “took” the five loaves and two fish, raised His eyes to heaven and “said” the blessing. And “breaking” the loaves, He “handed” them to the Disciples who gave them to the crowd. There is a rhythmic sequence to the flow of the four-fold action of Christ which is replayed in Mark, Matthew and Luke’s Gospel and also in St Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians—"He took the bread, said the blessing, broke it and gave it to His Disciples”.
In a way, this four-fold action mirrors Jesus instruction to the Disciples when they presented Him with the challenge of a large crowd in the middle of nowhere and with no access to alimentary resources, “Give them something to eat yourselves”. One can interpret that Jesus is asking the Disciples to try to feed the people through whatever means they can. A comma, however, makes a world of a difference. “Give them something to eat, yourselves”. This highlights clearly the self-sacrificial nature of the Eucharistic meal. Those who follow Christ who gave His life in order that others may live, should emulate His example by the sacrifice of ourselves in order that others may have life. This is the most profound expression of generosity which God has shown us through the laying down of His life for our salvation. The multiplication of the loaves and fish is just a starter, an appetiser to the greatest act of love, the Eucharist which in turn gives us the courage to be food and strength for those who need our love and our care.
