Daily Gospel Reflection April 24th 2020
GospelJN 6:1-15
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee.
A large crowd followed him,
because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.
Jesus went up on the mountain,
and there he sat down with his disciples.
The Jewish feast of Passover was near.
When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,
he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?”
He said this to test him,
because he himself knew what he was going to do.
Philip answered him,
“Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough
for each of them to have a little.”
One of his disciples,
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people recline.”
Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
“Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted.”
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
“This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
A large crowd followed him,
because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.
Jesus went up on the mountain,
and there he sat down with his disciples.
The Jewish feast of Passover was near.
When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,
he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?”
He said this to test him,
because he himself knew what he was going to do.
Philip answered him,
“Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough
for each of them to have a little.”
One of his disciples,
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people recline.”
Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
“Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted.”
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
“This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
Dear Friends and Family,
Let’s look at what the disciples have to offer. Now keep in mind at the beginning of the day the disciples were probably only thinking about what they would personally need for food this day. The boy shows up with five barley loaves. Barley is not one of the finer grains; it is the food of the poor. He has two fish; the quantity is too small for even the inner circle of apostles and women that journeyed with Jesus. It’s not much food, and they most likely knew they would be going hungry that night after sharing this small meal. Jesus then lays a greater burden on them, “Where could we go to feed the people?” The disciple know they don’t have the money so they scramble and share what they do have, a small poor meal. You know a few disciples were thinking, “Looks like we go hungry tonight.” Some may have even been resentful, “We came somewhat prepared to this mountain top, so why is this burden to take care of all these people now on us?” Jesus steps into their need and anxiety, he takes the poor food they have to offer and Jesus give thanks to his Father. Jesus takes the little they have and he blesses the crowd with an abundance that not only satisfies their immediate need but goes beyond it to fill twelve wicker baskets.
We may be in a very similar circumstance today. We may have prepared a simple poor meal for ourselves and our families. We may look at the need of the world around us and wonder, “Why is this burden on me?” We know what we have is not enough for the enormity of the problem that surrounds us. But let us follow the reluctant path of the disciples. Let us give to Jesus our poverty, our smallness, our emptiness and let Jesus bless it and transform it. The thousands were not fed with the disciples sacrifice; the thousands were fed by what Jesus did with their sacrifice. Also, consider the hunger of the disciples was satisfied along with that of the crowd, God does not neglect those that choose to be generous. So let us today not focus on what little we have to give, but let us open our hearts and give what we have and let our God transform our sacrifice. When we do this, his Kingdom is built and the people are fed.
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