‘Give them something to eat’
The ‘Feeding of the Multitude’ is the only miracle recorded in all four gospels.
It’s significance lay in the fact that it recalled the feeding of the chosen people with manna in the desert during the Exodus and it prefigured the institution of the Eucharist in the Upper Room on the first Holy Thursday evening when Jesus would feed the disciples with food infinitely more precious than manna, namely His Body and Blood.
‘There is nothing so great as the Eucharist.’ (St. John Vianney).
It is the supreme proof of the love of Jesus for the human family. It is the source and summit of the Christian life. It is thought-provoking that this miracle by the lake was made possible by the seemingly insignificant gift of five loaves and two fish. The little we have to offer will always be more than enough. Little is big in God’s hands. With that in mind we should pray often the beautiful words composed by the Mexican poet Amado Nervo: ‘I’m only a spark, make me a fire; I’m only a string, make me a lyre; I’m only an anthill, make me a mountain; I’m only a drop, make me a fountain; I’m only a feather, make me a wing’. It is noteworthy also that Jesus fed the people through the agency of His disciples. Eucharist and sharing are intimately connected. Consequently, If anyone is hungry in the world, our celebration of the Eucharist is incomplete everywhere. As Pope Leo has reminded us: ‘There is bread for everyone if it is given to everyone’.