Multiplication of the loaves (John 6:1-15)
I welcome you to this week's reflection on the Bible with special reference to the signs in the Gospel of John.
Last week we commenced work on the Multiplication of the Loaves. In this same narrative, I would like us to consider the bread that was multiplied and shared.
In one's first contact with this text, one may perceive the loaves to be very rich probably because it was Jesus who received them and probably because one might be driven by the assumption that 'the more the quantity, the lesser the quality, and vice versa'. This assumption might be fallacious as it does not apply to all situations.
Jesus' life has been one which gets in contact with very 'low-keys', with poverty of resources, as evident from his birth to his death.
The resources used, bread and fish, were very poor. The bread was made of barley. Barley was used as a gift of atonement by an adulterer. Barley was considered food for animals. Hence, all adulterers, according to the Jews, were considered animals. In considering the fish, they were sun-dried due to the issue of preservation.
Miracles happen in situations of scarcity rather than plenty. When we lack and seek to fill valleys of emptiness, we tend to seek refuge from where there is abundance.
What does the poverty of the resources mean for us. It tells us, by my reflection, that we can make a positive difference and change situations in our current states of life. Poverty of strength is not an end which should be accepted as a conclusion to premises of repeated failures but as a means of sharing God's gifts to our communities of faith.
We might be poor but we have a lot to offer. Strictly speaking, no one is poor. We have an ability to impact a positive change.
How do we activate the richness within? We ought to pray to God to grant Grace to effect. We need to bring these gifts on board. It is when we do this that it gets multiplied. It remains '5 loaves and 2 fish' unless we give to the 'Andrews' who represent the communities we belong to in order to be offered to the Eternal Father.
May Mother Mary intercede for us as we desire to share whatever we have though they do not contain the richness we long for.
Mary, Mother of All, pray for us
St. Andrew, pray for us
AMEN
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