Five loaves and two fish | www.poetrynetwork.me/
First reading Isaiah 55:1-3
Come and eat
Thus says the Lord:
Oh, come to the water all you who are thirsty;
though you have no money, come!
Buy corn without money, and eat,
and, at no cost, wine and milk.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
your wages on what fails to satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and you will have good things to eat
and rich food to enjoy.
Pay attention, come to me;
listen, and your soul will live.
With you I will make an everlasting covenant
out of the favours promised to David.
Responsorial Psalm 144(145):8-9,15-18
You open wide your hand, O Lord; you grant our desires.
The Lord is kind and full of compassion,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
How good is the Lord to all,
compassionate to all his creatures.
The eyes of all creatures look to you
and you give them their food in due time.
You open wide your hand,
grant the desires of all who live.
The Lord is just in all his ways
and loving in all his deeds.
He is close to all who call him,
who call on him from their hearts.
Second reading Romans 8:35,37-39
No created thing can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ
Nothing can come between us and the love of Christ, even if we are troubled or worried, or being persecuted, or lacking food or clothes, or being threatened or even attacked. These are the trials through which we triumph, by the power of him who loved us.
For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gospel Matthew 14:13-21
The feeding of the five thousand
When Jesus received the news of John the Baptist’s death he withdrew by boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves. But the people heard of this and, leaving the towns, went after him on foot. So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them and healed their sick.
When evening came, the disciples went to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place, and the time has slipped by; so send the people away, and they can go to the villages to buy themselves some food.’ Jesus replied, ‘There is no need for them to go: give them something to eat yourselves.’ But they answered ‘All we have with us is five loaves and two fish.’ ‘Bring them here to me’ he said. He gave orders that the people were to sit down on the grass; then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing. And breaking the loaves handed them to his disciples who gave them to the crowds. They all ate as much as they wanted, and they collected the scraps remaining; twelve baskets full. Those who ate numbered about five thousand men, to say nothing of women and children.
Reflection
The Readings of the Mass often focus on God’s love, but rarely as powerfully as in today’s liturgy. The Responsorial Psalm speaks of God’s compassion to all his creatures. We declare our faith in God who is close to all who call on him from their heart, and we pray that God will grant the desires of all who live.
The First Reading recalls the promises made by God to David, and declares that God makes the same promises to all of us. God wants to have a personal covenant of love with you and with me. We are hungry for love and so he invites us to come to him. We may feel that we have nothing to offer. That does not matter. God knows our hunger, and promises that if we come to him and listen he will speak words of love to us and our soul will live.
In the Second Reading we think of Jesus. Paul is convinced that nothing will ever be able to tear us away from his love.
All this is beautifully and powerfully expressed in the Gospel. The inspired author gives us a dramatic portrayal of Jesus as the Messiah echoing God’s words of welcome as he says: ‘Bring them here to me!’ God is still looking after his people and satisfying their hunger, now through the ministry of Jesus.
Nothing is impossible to God. Our talents, our hands, our hearts, our love, our acts of service can bring sustenance to a hungry world. It is radically important that we know that we do not, of ourselves, have the resources to do this. But it is equally important to know that we are not alone. Jesus, who was with his disciples, is with us. United to him and caught up in his prayer, we too can praise and thank God; we too can mediate Jesus’ love to each other.
