Jesus Feeds the 5000

Jesus Feeds the 5000

Gospel reflection – Sunday 2nd August

The response of Sunday’s psalm is an excellent summary of the theme that runs throughout Sunday’s readings:

The hand of the Lord feeds us: he answers all our needs.

The compassion of God is foremost in these readings – recognising need within the people and responding with an overflowing abundance. In the Gospel, the abundant response of God is the miraculous feeding of more than five thousand people with twelve baskets full of leftovers.

We have all been in the situation of having been caught without. Maybe some friends dropped by unexpectedly, maybe it was getting close to payday and the fridge and shelves were getting bare, maybe we had little to begin with. It could be as simple as running out of milk or bread for lunches in the morning.

In this Sunday’s Gospel, we see the disciples telling Jesus that the people, all 5,000 of them, would need to go home. The disciples were concerned about all the people being stuck, in the dark with no food because the site of the Gospel story is on the North West shore of the Sea of Galilee and not near towns or villages of that time. Totally understandable!

In 2015, on a pilgrimage to the Holy Lands, I was fortunate enough to visit the Church of the Multiplication in Tabgha, where this miracle took place. The site was beautiful, as the scenery in the area is quite green and lovely. We visited in early January on a very grey and freezing cold day. It actually snowed the next few days! The original church was built by the Byzantines in around 350 CE and has some wonderful mosaics. It was expanded in the 5th century and then lost for some 1300 years after being destroyed in 641CE. In 1892 the land was purchased by the German Catholic Society for Palestine which was associated with the Archdiocese of Cologne. Archaeological discoveries found the remains of the ancient church and a new church was built and only inaugurated in 1984, based on the original design. As you can see from the photographs below, it is a beautiful church, now administered by the Benedictines.

What is significant about this place, and this miracle is how Jesus responded to the disciples. Notice he says ‘There is no need for them to go: give them something to eat yourselves.’ Jesus calls on the disciple’s compassion and challenges them to face the problem and not push it away.

Like many of us, in these unusual and difficult times, the disciples had their excuses; we do not have enough, it’s not our problem, we can not do this, we only have five loaves of bread and two fish!

There are some good reminders for us in the Gospel story. Firstly, we must never be too wrapped up in our own problems or worries that we think like the disciples and say ‘send them away – they are not my problem.’ Jesus calls us, through our Baptismal promises, to be generous, to help our neighbour, to show love for all. Even on our darkest days, there is always someone worse off.

Secondly, Jesus hears what people need and does something about their needs. ‘Give them something to eat’ – it does not matter to Jesus who they are – just that their needs are met. We also must remember that it does not matter if the people we help are like us, members of our own families, young or old, or part of our community – they are people in need and we, as followers of Christ, must do something for them.

Finally, the story reminds us what God can do when we give him what we have. Five loaves of bread and two fish was not very much for the hungry crowd. However, Jesus says ‘Bring them here to me’ and asks everyone to sit down. Then what seems like so little, suddenly becomes so much, through the power and glory of God. We also can do so much – things that might be small to us, calling a friend, saying hello to someone lonely, giving of time or money – can mean much,much more to the person receiving the help.

We are nourished by God through the ministry of each other, through the simple things of life, (distributing bread and gathering up the fragments): visiting the sick and consoling the grieving; caring for a child or giving aid to an elder; delivering groceries to someone isolating or ringing and checking in with friends and family; keeping our distance and being vigilant with hand hygiene; even wearing masks if needed to protect others. If we open our eyes, we will be astounded at how ordinary actions can satisfy our hunger and the hunger of others. We are so lucky, we have so much. Let’s open our eyes and our hearts. Let’s listen to the voice of Jesus saying “You give them something to eat”. May our love and generosity be the loaves and fishes for our community.

Prayer for this week

Lord Jesus,

Help me to hear your words “You give them something to eat!” and to see ways that I can be generous with those around me. In my home, in my school, in my community, and in my nation. 

Amen.

Friday Morning Mass

Thank you to Fr Peter Kwak from Beverly Hills parish for celebrating mass with Miss Touma’s 7RE1 class last week. It was wonderful to see so many Year 12 Big Sisters at mass with their Year 7 little sisters.

This week it was Miss Governatori’s 7RE2 class, next week will be Miss Nobrega’s 7RE3, Week 4 Mrs McKeown’s 7RE4 class, and Week 5 Miss Mill’s 7RE5.

Unfortunately, as Year 12 will be on HSC Trial exams, Year 12 big sisters may not be in attendance in weeks 4 & 5 but we will be praying for them!

Thank you to all Year 7 parents who are supporting their daughter’s commitment to Religious Education by ensuring they are at the Chapel on time for Friday Morning Mass. Of course, we also need to thank Fr Casey (Kingsgrove), Fr John (Riverwood), and Fr Chris (Peakhurst/Penshurst) for their commitment to the College and our spiritual nourishment.

If you have any questions regarding Friday Morning Masses please do not hesitate to contact me at the College.

Julie Monk
Religious Education Coordinator