Enough for all of us

Jesus had taught a crowd of 5,000 people all day, and it was late. "Tell them to go home and eat," the Apostles told Jesus. "Feed them yourselves,"

He answered. But all they had were five loaves of bread and two fish! Jesus took the food, blessed it and gave it to the crowd - and suddenly, there was enough for everyone! They all ate their fill, and there were even 12 baskets of leftovers.

If a classmate falls and gets hurt, any kid would probably jump in and help. But if you pushed the kid and she ended up falling and getting hurt, you might be more likely to stand back and say, "It's not my fault!"

Jesus was all about taking responsibility for other people in need. He taught that if someone's hurting, you help them - whether or not you're the one who hurt them.

There's an example of that in this week's Gospel (Luke 9:11-17). It's been a long, hot day of teaching a huge crowd, and everyone's tired and hungry. The Apostles seem to want all 5,000 people to just go home so they and Jesus can rest. They can see that the people need food, but it's not their problem, right?

Wrong! Jesus uses this to teach about being responsible for other people. If someone's hungry, He says, don't just say, "Hey, go home and get yourself some food" - give them some!

When you help someone who's hurt, you might be surprised at how much you can do: lift a kid who's sprawled on the ground, say the right words to make him feel better, remember who to call for help.

For the Apostles, trusting Jesus' promise that they really could feed 5,000 people turned out to be a lesson, too. As the food was passed around, somehow, there was enough for everyone. Jesus showed that taking responsibility for helping each other can have miraculous results!