18^th Sunday – A

Multiplication of the Loaves

 

 

Summary:

1. Jesus is the Fulfillment of the Word.
2. We Are to Serve at the Table of the Lord.
3. We Can Use Our Abilities in Service.

 

Points to Ponder:

-Jesus celebrates Word and Bread – structure of the Mass; -Word becomes Sacrament, flesh, visible sign and invisible grace

-Lectern and altar of the Catholic Church; not only word, word, word…but the bread of life

-Scarcity is a human term; but with the Lord we can bring plentiful out of it. We only bring our scraps, our copper coins, our pittance, our five loaves and it is the Lord who brings the abundance out of them.

-Sequence of events in the gospel: He preaches (Word), the disciples notice the crowd and finds it hard to feed them and so reacts, “send them away” and the Lord responds to their need, “Give them something yourself.” Our participation in the Lord’s ministry – mission – even with the little we have. The transformation of word into bread.

-We want to keep what we hold in our hands; as you open them for sharing, Lord, have mercy.

-We like to be certain in our hearts; as you convert us to the only certainty of your word, Christ, have mercy.

-We sere two masters; as you turn us to your Son as our only master, Lord have mercy.

 

Lord, you have always given back what was given to you, enlarged and multiplied. Five loaves and two fishes in human personality and equipment, when placed in the hands of Jesus and blessed by him have been enough to meet great and human needs of thou­sands. Mothers brought their children to him and he took them and handed them back dearer than ever be­fore. A poor widow brought two copper coins to offer and your son admired the generosity of that woman. Men brought him a Roman coin and he handed it back, a larger thing, a symbol of human relationship to God and the state. Some brought to your son their lives responding to his call, "Follow me", and he re­turned those lives multiplied in power and possi­bility. Others brought him a cross, and he took it, handed it back to the world, trans­formed and en­larged, no longer a thing of shame, but a symbol of God's redeeming love.

 

Accept these our lives and our gifts offered to you and trans­form them so that they may be­come bread and life, wine and joy, peace and liberty for your people.

 

 

 

Stories to Aid Our Reflection

 

Mother Teresa:

 

God blesses those who share their talents, with loving commitment. This is illustrated by Mother Teresa who went to serve the slum-dwellers of Calcutta with just twenty cents in her pocket. When she died forty-nine years later, God had turned her original twenty cents into eighty schools, three hundred mobile dispensaries, seventy leprosy clinics, thirty homes for the dying, thirty homes for abandoned children and forty thousand volunteers from all over the world to help her. We can begin our own humble efforts at "sharing" right in our parish by participating in the works of charity done by organizations like St. Vincent DePaul Society, the Knights of Columbus and so many other volunteer groups. We may say, “I do not have enough money or talent to make any difference.” But we need to remember that the small boy in the story had only five loaves of bread and two fish.

 

“I shared my rice because she has seven starving children:” From her personal experience, Mother Teresa relates a story showing how the poor are generous and ready to share what little they have with others because they have experienced hunger and poverty. Learning of a poor Hindu family in Calcutta who had been starving for many days, Mother Teresa visited them and gave a parcel of rice to the mother of the family. She was surprised to see that the woman divided the rice into two equal portions and gave one to her Moslem neighbor. When Mother Teresa asked her why she had done such a sacrificial deed, the woman replied: “My family can manage with half of what you brought. My neighbor’s family is in greater need because they have several children who are starving." Today’s gospel tells the story of a small boy who showed this same kind of generosity. By sharing his small lunch (which consisted of five slices of barley bread and two pickled fish), he became the instrument of a miracle in Jesus’ hands.

 

A Little Girl & 57 Cents: Little Hattie May Wiatt

 

A poor girl’s donation of “five loaves and two fish”: A sobbing little girl stood near a small Sunday school building. The pastor asked her why she was crying. "I can’t get in to the Sunday school," she sobbed. “The teacher said it was too crowded.” Seeing her shabby, unkempt appearance, the pastor guessed the reason. Taking her by the hand, the pastor took her inside and found a place for her in the Sunday school class. The child was so touched that she went to bed that night thinking of the children who had no place to learn about Jesus.

 

Two years later, this child lay dead in one of the poor tenement buildings and her parents called for the kind-hearted pastor, who had befriended their daughter, to handle arrangements for her funeral. As her body was being moved, a worn and crumpled purse was found which she might have gotten from some trash dump. Inside was found fifty-seven cents and a note scribbled in a child’s handwriting. It read, "This is my saving to help build our small church and the little Sunday school bigger so that many more children can go to worship God and to learn about Jesus." For two years she had saved for this offering of love. When the pastor tearfully read that note, he knew instantly what he should do.

Carrying this note and the child's purse to the pulpit, he told the story of the poor little girl’s unselfish love and devotion. He challenged his parishioners to raise enough money for a larger church and bigger Sunday school. A newspaper learned of the story and published it. It was read by a realtor who offered them a plot of land worth thousands, for the price of fifty-seven cents -- the amount the little girl had saved. The parishioners made large donations. Checks came from far and wide. Within five years the little girl’s gift had increased to $250,000.00, a huge amount at the turn of the last century. Her unselfish, sacrificial love had paid large dividends.

 

When you next visit the city of Philadelphia, look for Temple Baptist Church, with a seating capacity of 3,300, and Temple University, where hundreds of students are trained. Have a look, too, at the Good Samaritan Hospital, and the Sunday school building which houses hundreds of Sunday scholars, so that no child in the area will ever need to be left outside during Sunday school time. In one of the rooms of this building you will see the picture of the sweet face of the little girl (Little Hattie May Wiatt) whose fifty-seven cents, so sacrificially saved, and had such a remarkable history. Alongside is a portrait of her kind pastor, Rev. Dr. Russell H. Conwell, author of the book Acres of Diamonds. In today’s gospel we read the similar story of a boy who sacrificially shared his little lunch with Jesus, thus cooperating with Him in the miraculous feeding of a huge crowd.

 

A number of years ago young Matthew LeSage, a third-grader, wanted to do something to help the hungry in his city. So he started a program, Hams for the Hungry. In its fourth year, Hams for the Hungry raised $40,000 to brighten the holiday season for people with limited resources.

Matthew's story reminds me of another young man, 13 years old at the time, who read about Dr. Albert Schweitzer's missionary work in Africa. He wanted to help. He had enough money to buy one bottle of aspirin. He wrote to the Air Force and asked if they could fly over Dr. Schweitzer's hospital and drop the bottle down to him. A radio station broadcast the story about this young fellow's concern for helping others. Others responded as well. Eventually, he was flown by the government to Schweitzer's hospital along with 4 1/2 tons of medical supplies worth $400,000 freely given by thousands of people. This, of course, would be the equivalent of millions of dollars today. When Dr. Schweitzer heard the story, he said, "I never thought one child could do so much."

 

Our story from scripture for today is about a young man who didn't have much. But what he did have, he offered to Christ. And thousands of hungry people were fed.

 

The Law of Abundance

Stephen Covey, in his "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", talks about the Law of Abundance vs. the Law of Scarcity. There's plenty to go around. And the more you give, the more you have to give. But how interesting! Covey writes about this, and folks act like it is new. Jesus performed it, 2000 years ago, on a rocky hillside in Palestine. There is plenty of Jesus to go around!

 

The Negative Verses the Positive

Outside a small town in New Mexico is a sign that reads as follows: "Welcome to Portales, New Mexico, home of 12,493 friendly folks and 8 or 10 grouches."

 

Herod’s banquet versus Jesus’ banquet:

 

Gospel Explanation:

The miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fish is so central to the gospel message that it is one of the few miracles found in all four gospels. Indeed, two separate versions of it are found in Matthew and Mark (see Matthew 15:32-39 and Mark 8:1-10). The scenario is uncomplicated. The compassion of Jesus attracts a large crowd and soon they find themselves in a deserted place where no food is available. The disciples, who frequently seem disconcerted by Jesus' apparent lack of foresight, point out that there was a real problem since no food was readily available for this large crowd.

 

Be ‘Eucharistic ministers’: We, too, can perform wonders in our own time and place, by imitating the four "Eucharistic verbs” of Jesus: a) take humbly and generously what God gives us, b) bless it by offering it to others in God’s love, c) break away from our own needs and interests for the sake of others, d) give with joy-filled gratitude to God who has blessed us with so much.

 

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