When Jesus went ashore, he saw the crowd gathered there, and he had compassion on them.
And he healed their sick. Late in the afternoon, his disciples came to him and said, “We are in
a lonely place and it is now late. You should send these people away, so that they can go to the
villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” But Jesus replied, “They do not need to go
away; you give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have nothing here but five loaves
and two fishes.” Jesus said to them, “Bring them here to me.” Then he made everyone sit down
on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fishes, raised his eyes to heaven, pronounced
the blessing, broke the loaves, and handed them to the disciples to distribute to the people. And
they all ate, and everyone had enough; then the disciples gathered up the leftovers, filling twelve
baskets. About five thousand men had eaten there, besides women and children.

Reflect

“They do not need to go away.” Two Sundays ago, we reflected on the feeding of the multitude
by Jesus as recounted by John’s Gospel. Today’s Gospel narrates the same event albeit as
reported by Matthew. The disciples came to Jesus to suggest that the people be dismissed
in order to find their own provisions since they were in a deserted place. Jesus clearly told the
disciples that there was no need for the people to be sent away. He gave an instruction to his
disciples that they themselves should give the people something to eat. The disciples’ reply to
Jesus’ instruction betrayed their state of mind. They were worrying because they only had five
loaves and two fish. Jesus multiplied the meager food supply which they had. Everybody, five
thousand men plus women and children, were able to eat and there were twelve baskets of
leftover food. In our journey of faith, there are times when we are confronted with situation of
scarcity. Faced with limitations, our common tendency is simply to give up rather than to |
creatively find possible solutions to the problems confronting us. Miracles do happen. They
happen when we do not give up. They happen when we see possibilities.

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