Posted on 03/19/2020 5:33:59 AM PDT by Kaslin
There are three accounts in the New Testament of Jesus Christ feeding a multitude of people with a handful of loaves of bread and a few small fish. In the Gospel of Matthew, the number of people is listed as 4,000. In the Gospels of Luke and Mark, the number is stated to be 5,000.
According to all three gospels, large crowds of people follow Jesus into a remote area, where he preaches to them for several hours. (The account in Matthew says that the crowds are with Jesus for "three days"). Christ's disciples advise him to send the crowds away to get food and drink. Christ tells his disciples to give the people something to eat. The disciples protest, saying that they have nowhere near enough food or money to feed so many people. When Christ asks his disciples how much food they themselves have, they point to a handful of loaves and an even smaller number of fish.
At that point, Christ blesses the food before him and asks His disciples to feed the people with it. Dutifully, they seat the crowd in smaller groups and then proceed to distribute what little they have.
None of the accounts explains in any detail what transpires immediately thereafter. But all three state that everyone present had plenty to eat, so much so that the leftovers filled seven (Matthew) or 12 (Mark, Luke) baskets!
As a child in Catholic school, I was taught that Jesus "miraculously" created all the additional food needed. Such an otherwise inexplicable event wasn't a stretch for someone, we were taught, who could cure leprosy, blindness and paraplegia, and even bring people back from the dead.
Years later, I was seated in a pew at Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville, Tennessee. The pastor at the time, the Rev. William Fleming, was giving a sermon on these gospel stories. In his homily, he asked us to consider a different account of what might have happened.
It was extremely unlikely, Father Fleming suggested, that hundreds or thousands of people would have followed an itinerant preacher into the desert, miles away from their own town or village, intending to hear him teach for hours -- and not have brought a thing to eat or drink. What if, he asked, the miracle was not Jesus Christ's magically "creating" food for a crowd of thousands? (Oh, it's not as if He couldn't have, seeing as he is the Son of God.)
But what if the miracle was what happened after the disciples took what little they had, sat down and began to share it with those seated next to them?
It is not difficult to envision. The small group of people seated with the disciples would likely have taken out their own meager provisions and shared them with those closest to them. Others, witnessing that spirit of selfless generosity, would be inclined to do the same. And so, Fleming continued, that spirit of generosity could have spread throughout the entire throng, until everyone who had food and drink was willing to share with others.
Although none might have individually had what could be called a surplus, under any stretch of the imagination, all of those small portions, when added together and shared, were not only sufficient to feed everyone present; there were leftovers -- baskets of leftovers.
I remember my reaction to this homily like it was yesterday. I felt like a lightning bolt had gone through me. Everything he said made perfect sense. Furthermore, Father Fleming's version of the "loaves and fishes" story was no less miraculous for being less "magical." The miracle was not the spontaneous creation of food that had not existed before. Thousands of human hearts were transformed in that place that day. They had just spent hours listening to Christ preach. And in the meal that followed, they lived that message.
That was the miracle.
I have pondered Father Fleming's homily many times in the years since, most recently as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads in the United States. The news has been filled with stories of runs on stores: shelves emptied of toilet paper, over-the-counter medicines, bottled water and other essentials.
I could, at this point, explain why this is a hysterical overreaction: that we are moving into spring and summer, and farmers will not be prevented from planting; that manufacturing and distribution may be interrupted or slowed, but our supply chain is strong.
There are plenty of factual, practical reasons why there is no need to hoard.
But I'm not focusing on the practical; I'm focusing on the miraculous, the kinds of miracles Father Fleming was talking about in that sermon 30 years ago. We've seen many of them in the past week: the medical professionals working insanely long shifts to treat patients; the professional athletes donating part of their salaries to pay workers laid off from arenas where sporting events have been canceled; the stores that have implemented "senior hours" to allow older Americans to shop without fears of crowds that could pose a threat of virus transmission; the millions of Americans committed to ordering take-out food to keep local restaurants and other small businesses afloat.
Those miracles matter. And yes, they are miracles. If you doubt it, ask yourself: "How often have I said or heard someone say, 'If our economy/country survives this crisis, it will be a miracle'?"
As we face this crisis together, do pray -- yes, please. But do not look outside yourself for miracles. Look inside yourself.
We are living in our own "loaves and fishes" moment. What may not seem enough to get us by individually will, if added together, be enough to sustain us all.
And with plenty left over.
The Loaves and Fishes, yes, Fidel Castro’s favorite Gospel
story, it will probably get lots of re-telling as the US
prepares for the next step into Socialism.
Stone soup?
One of my jobs is as a custodian at a small country hospital. Because of recent events, I just had my first day off in 12 days.
I told my wife I would go shopping today and jokingly said I'll be back in about 12 hours.
She said, "Oh, don't worry about it. All three kids went shopping and they said they bought more than enough for themselves and we can come over whenever we want or they can bring us whatever we need."
So we just relaxed and enjoyed the day.
they would not need to be sent away to get food and drink if they already had their own food
First, there is no discrepancy between the crowd sizes of 4,000 and 5,000.
They were in fact two separate occasions.
In John 6 with a crowd of 5,000, a boy has 5 loaves and 2 fish and they ended up with 12 baskets of fragments. "When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!"
And later, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me not because of the signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves."
In Mark 8 with a crowd of 4,000, they had 7 loaves and a few small fish, and ended up with 7 baskets of fragments. "And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha."
Note, no speech in the Mark 8 occasion, whereas in John 6 the "Bread of Life" discourse followed.
These were NOT "sharing moments"!
First, there is no discrepancy between the crowd sizes of 4,000 and 5,000.
They were in fact two separate occasions.
In John 6 with a crowd of 5,000, a boy has 5 loaves and 2 fish and they ended up with 12 baskets of fragments. "When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!"
And later, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me not because of the signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves."
In Mark 8 with a crowd of 4,000, they had 7 loaves and a few small fish, and ended up with 7 baskets of fragments. "And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha."
Note, no speech in the Mark 8 occasion, whereas in John 6 the "Bread of Life" discourse followed.
These were NOT "sharing moments"!
In Mark 8:18-21
18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20 “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
Some people (like the author of this article) are only familiar with little snippets of scripture. It is easy for them to draw the wrong conclusions without their having read the rest of the book.
“Although none might have individually had what could be called a surplus, under any stretch of the imagination, all of those small portions, when added together and shared, were not only sufficient to feed everyone present; there were leftovers — baskets of leftovers.”
Sorry but that doesn’t add up. You don’t arrive at that conclusion given the premise, that “none might have individually had what could be called a surplus, under any stretch of the imagination”.
Hmmmmm. Some of you protest too much. Accept the metaphor and move on.
Nice story, but ALL the gospel accounts said that the people were hungry, had no food, needed to eat. Not what the priest speculated about.
Socialist agenda? Perhaps.
A socialist gospel, having ‘the form of godliness but having no belief in the power there-of’.
a BIG A-men to that. Often the most unholy of people are the very ones who, like the Pharisees of old, wear their piety on their sleeves for all to see - whereas the truly holy ones among us are seen by their quiet deeds and love for their fellow man.
I'm reminded of the story (perhaps apocryphal) of the church that prayed for the tavern under construction next door be shut down. After it was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, its owner got wind of the church's antics and sued them for damages.
The owner was absolutely convinced that the church's prayers were directly responsible. When questioned by the judge about it, the pastor admitted that, yes, they had been praying for God to intervene on their behalf but never truly believed that He would actually do it.
The judge commented that a non-believer was convinced that God had burned down his tavern while the believer never thought that God would actually do so.
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