Jesus sits in a boat on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, in the region where
He had grown up. Teaching from the boat, which symbolizes the Church, the Lord teach-
es the multitude through parables. We read many such parables in the Holy Gospel. The
people in His town synagogue then reject Him, and His cousin, Saint John the Baptist, is
arrested.
After the Martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist at the hands of Herod the King,
the Lord Jesus departs from the region around Nazareth by boat to a deserted place by
Himself. The Lord often spends time alone in prayer because He restores humanity by His
prayers, as the Divine Son who takes on human nature. The recent events also sadden
him. But instead of allowing that to become a root of bitterness against people, it be-
comes the means by which He shows His compassion to all.
When the people hear that He has gone to a deserted place, they follow Him on foot
from the cities. When Jesus goes out, He sees a great multitude, and He is moved with
compassion for them and heals those who are sick. The Lord is gracious, slow to anger,
and abiding in love. His kindness is shown to all people, bringing them to Himself and
fulfilling them.
The Lord begins by healing the sick, and He does this all day, for many people are com-
ing to Him. He sends no one away. At the end of the day, when the sun begins to set, His
disciples come to Him and say, “This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the
crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
The disciples had compassion for the people, realizing that all those families, with
women and children, had not eaten all day, and if they did not go back to their villages
quickly, they would not be able to buy any food. However, the disciples’ compassion
stopped short of realizing that their practical solution did not consider that the Son of
God Himself was with them, and His compassion is as limitless as His power and grace.
Jesus said to the disciples, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”
The Lord’s statement here shows us two things. Firstly, they did not need to go anywhere
other than the Lord’s presence, which is true for all of us. When there are difficulties in life,
what is most important is that we do not turn away from Christ and focus only on other
possible solutions. But instead, turn to Christ.
Of course, the Lord teaches us to be wise yet simple so that we may use the good
resources of this world to help us find solutions, as these resources are gifts from God.
However, we transcend human effort with our focus on the Lord, Who is the primary
source of peace, love, grace, and Divine Power to help us with our needs. We do not
need to go anywhere else. We are with Him when we pray, opening ourselves to His grace
since He loves us unconditionally.
Secondly, we see that the Lord Jesus tells the disciples, “You give them something
to eat.” We know that this story refers to Jesus’ miracle of the multiplication of the bread
to feed the people. Still, the Lord Himself emphasizes not His own miracle but the disci-
ples’ faith and willingness to serve others. Christ gives us a great example of compassion
and love. Before the disciples could fully understand what He was about to do, He chal-
lenged their faith to love the multitude as He loves them.
The Lord calls for them despite the disciples’ objections to sending the people
away. The disciples are perplexed because they do not know what the Lord is about
to do. They have only five loaves and two fish, and there are about five thousand men
plus women and children. However, what appears impossible becomes an opportunity
for God to show His love and mercy. Nothing is impossible with God’s love. Saint John
Chrysostom says, “In this miracle, Jesus was teaching them humility, temperance, and
charity to be of like mind toward one another and to share all things in common.”
In the New Testament, we read of two events related to the feeding of the mul-
titudes. They are not the same event. They take place in different places and with other
people. Here, there are five loaves and five thousand people, and the numbers represent
God’s revelation to His people in the five books of Moses in the Old Testament.
What Moses came to prepare, Jesus comes to fulfill. As the Lord feeds His people
with manna in a deserted place, now the Lord Jesus, the Son of God Himself, is also in a
deserted place, inaugurating the New Covenant, and feeding five thousand people with
five loaves. The Lord also says to His disciples later that they would be fishers of men. The
two fish are also symbols of the people of God gathering to Christ, from both the Judean
and Gentile people.
The Lord directs the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and
the two fish, he looks up to Heaven, blesses and breaks them, and gives them to the
crowds. This language is key because, in the New Testament and the liturgical tradition of
the Church, bread is taken, blessed, broken, and given to us. This points to the Eucharist,
which Jesus foreshadows in feeding the five thousand.
The Lord knows about our worldly needs for food, clothing, and shelter, but He
also provides us with the Bread of Immortality, which feeds our souls into eternal life.
Above all else, it is in the Eucharist that we encounter Christ, are mystically united to Him,
and are renewed.
All the people eat and are satisfied. They take up twelve baskets full of the broken
pieces left over. The number twelve symbolizes discipleship, and feeding people with
twelve baskets is how the Holy Gospel shows us that the Lord feeds all of his disciples,
both physically and spiritually.
We are called to compassion for the hungry and the needy. We are also called to
come to Him, who is the Bread of Life, and receive His Body and Blood at the chalice
unto eternal life. When we allow ourselves to be strengthened by the Bread of Life, Jesus
Christ, we can go out and similarly strengthen others by the grace of God.
