Jesus received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed to be cured.
As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, "Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."
He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves." They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people." Now the men there numbered about five thousand.
Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty." They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.
As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve approached him and said, "Dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms and find lodging and provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."
He said to them, "Give them some food yourselves." They replied, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people." Now the men there numbered about five thousand.
Then he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty." They did so and made them all sit down. Then taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.
They all ate and were satisfied. And when the leftover fragments were picked up, they filled twelve wicker baskets.
In the Gospel today, we see how Jesus cared for the crowd that came to see Him, feeding five thousand people after a tiring day of preaching to them and healing their sick. Jesus knew about everything the people needed. He knew that they thirst for the Good News, that some of them wished to be healed and that they hunger for food. He took care of all these needs of the people, showing compassion on His followers.
Jesus' love for us is expressed in the many ways that He nourishes us. But the greatest expression of His love is when He becomes the nourishment Himself. This He did on Calvary and the merits of this supreme sacrifice come to us in the Eucharist.
The Eucharist is the sacrament wherein God shows us how madly in love He is with humanity. Here we see that even after God did the unthinkable by becoming man and dying on the cross, He still does more, to our amazement. God knows that the Calvary scene is chronologically distant from us who live more than two thousand years after Christ. That is why Jesus instituted the Eucharist, not to repeat His sacrifice, but to bring that very same sacrifice to us here and now.
Every time we reflect on the Eucharist, we cannot help but be amazed. Is it not awe-inspiring to hear that the God who once humbled Himself by becoming man and allowing Himself to be killed now further humbles Himself by becoming a piece of bread? Yes, this is the Eucharist - God's love that resulted to unimaginable humility.
It is up to us now not to leave God waiting. He became bread so that He can come to us. He has gone a long way just to be with us and to save us. Let us receive and worship Him as we would if we were with Him more than two thousand years ago. If we come to think of it, we are the ones who need Him. Yet He's the one making the greater effort to come to us. All we have to do now is receive Him, believing that it is Him and not bread that we are receiving.
By faith we see that it is Jesus, and no longer bread. By this faith we see and we rejoice that He who nourishes is Himself the nourishment. With this faith we receive the one who nourishes us.
Jesus' love for us is expressed in the many ways that He nourishes us. But the greatest expression of His love is when He becomes the nourishment Himself. This He did on Calvary and the merits of this supreme sacrifice come to us in the Eucharist.
The Eucharist is the sacrament wherein God shows us how madly in love He is with humanity. Here we see that even after God did the unthinkable by becoming man and dying on the cross, He still does more, to our amazement. God knows that the Calvary scene is chronologically distant from us who live more than two thousand years after Christ. That is why Jesus instituted the Eucharist, not to repeat His sacrifice, but to bring that very same sacrifice to us here and now.
Every time we reflect on the Eucharist, we cannot help but be amazed. Is it not awe-inspiring to hear that the God who once humbled Himself by becoming man and allowing Himself to be killed now further humbles Himself by becoming a piece of bread? Yes, this is the Eucharist - God's love that resulted to unimaginable humility.
It is up to us now not to leave God waiting. He became bread so that He can come to us. He has gone a long way just to be with us and to save us. Let us receive and worship Him as we would if we were with Him more than two thousand years ago. If we come to think of it, we are the ones who need Him. Yet He's the one making the greater effort to come to us. All we have to do now is receive Him, believing that it is Him and not bread that we are receiving.
By faith we see that it is Jesus, and no longer bread. By this faith we see and we rejoice that He who nourishes is Himself the nourishment. With this faith we receive the one who nourishes us.
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