Jesus asks us to be his helpers

In our First Reading (2 Kings 4:42-44), we hear about how a man brings to the prophet Elisha an offering of the first fruits of his harvest. This was a wonderful custom and, of course, we still do this today with festivals such as Thanksgiving or a Harvest Festival. We can imagine the servant’s surprise when he is told to offer it to all the people who are there, especially as the barley loaves would have been quite small. Elisha insists and so the people are fed. It is a wonderful sign of many things. First it is a sign of God’s power to do great things with what might seem to be the little we offer him, or with the apparent inadequacy of our resources or gifts. It is also a potent sign of God’s love and care for us. As the Psalm notes (Psalm 145): the hand of the Lord feeds us and he answers all our needs. Indeed, God opens His hands and satisfies the desires of every living thing. Of course, we are given this passage of Scripture as a sign or prophecy, or, to use the technical word “type,” of the miracle that Jesus performs in our Gospel reading.

All this, therefore, prepares us for the Gospel reading. In fact, this Sunday, we begin reading the Gospel from the sixth chapter of St. John’s Gospel (John 6:1-15). We have been following St. Mark’s Gospel in Year B (our current Liturgical Year). However, St. Mark’s Gospel is the shortest and so we would run out of excerpts to use before we get to the end of the year! When the Lectionary was revised, it was decided to add in a five-week long extract from St. John’s Gospel to fill in the potential gap. Chapter Six of St. John’s Gospel, the Feeding of the 5,000 and the “Bread of Life” discourse, was happily chosen to do this. It gives us the opportunity to have what we might call a brief “summer school” on the Eucharist.

Jesus performs a great miracle in feeding the 5,000 and this becomes the occasion for him to teach about how he is indeed “the Bread of Life.” As noted, we will be following this teaching over the next few weeks and it will be a wonderful opportunity for us to refresh our understanding of the Eucharist and to appreciate this great gift even more. As we begin this project, it is good to look at a small and often overlooked detail in the Gospel. Jesus could, of course, have produced the miracle from nothing; but he does not. Instead, notice how he used the five barley loaves and two fish that a small boy supplies.

In this detail, we have a wonderful example and lesson for us. Jesus can produce great things in us. We can be his instruments in feeding those in need; not just physically hungry, but also spiritually starving. However, we need to be like that boy in the Gospel and be generous. We need to offer the Lord the little that we have, so that he can work in and through us. Yes, there is so much need that we can feel overwhelmed: what can I do? Well, we can do much, for in small, yet generous acts of kindness, we are helping our Lord. He will supply the increase in what might seem to be our very limited resources or abilities. What is more, in helping others in need, we are actually helping Jesus who is, in a way, present in them (remember the words in St. Matthew’s Gospel, Chapter 25; “Lord, when did we see you …”). We then need to see Jesus in others, especially in the poor and the needy. With this in mind, Saint Teresa of Kolkata wrote a wonderful prayer:

Jesus is the Hungry — to be fed.
Jesus is the Thirsty — to be ­satiated.
Jesus is the Naked — to be clothed.
Jesus is the Homeless — to be taken in.
Jesus is the Sick — to be healed.
Jesus is the Lonely — to be loved.
Jesus is the Unwanted — to be wanted.
Jesus is the Leper — to wash his wounds.
Jesus is the Beggar — to give him a smile.
Jesus is the Drunkard — to listen to him.
Jesus is the Mental — to protect him.
Jesus is the Little One — to ­embrace him.
Jesus is the Blind — to lead him.
Jesus is the Dumb — to speak for him.
Jesus is the Crippled — to walk with him.
Jesus is the Drug Addict — to befriend him.
Jesus is the Prisoner — to be ­visited.
Jesus is the Old — to be served.