God, through Jesus, feeds us and sustains us

Luke 9:11b–17

Jesus spoke to the crowds 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.

Music Meditations

I Am the Bread of Life—John Michael Talbot
In the Breaking of the Bread—Kitty Cleveland
Ave Verum Corpus—Andrea Bocelli
Table of Plenty—Dan Schutte
You Satisfy the Hungry Heart—Richard Proulx and the Cathedral Singers

Opening Prayer

Lord, you are always watching out for us, caring for us, feeding us. Help us to see your generosity in our lives, and help us to be thankful and generous.

Companions for the Journey

This reflection is from Fr. Jude Siciiano. O.P., in “First Impressions” 2022, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

This feast was established for the entire Church in 1264. It was intended as a way to honor Christ present in the Eucharist. This was the time when Eucharistic devotions made their appearance—Blessed Sacrament processions, visits to the Blessed Sacrament and expositions of the Sacrament. While these were good devotions, the links that had been expressed previously in the early church between the Eucharistic assembly and the Eucharistic meal, became weakened. Thus, the notion that the Eucharist is the body of Christ—is the Church—declined in awareness.

Just before today’s gospel episode we read that the apostles had returned from their preaching mission and Jesus had wanted time apart with them—but the crowds “found this out and followed him” (9:10-11). Nevertheless, he “received” the crowds; there is a sense of a warm welcome here. Jesus is going to see to all their needs. These were subsistence level people, just a day or two from hunger and even starvation. Nevertheless, the crowds in the story just didn’t get “fast food” to fill their bellies, even though they were hungry. First, they heard about God and the announcement of the reign of God from Jesus. Healings followed. But the healings don’t just end after the opening line, they are there for the people and us in the feeding as well. Notice the time of day, “As sunset approached.” It is getting dark. There is the darkness of war in our world these days. As I write this the Ukrainians are hanging on by their fingertips under heavy bombardment by the invading Russians. The war is causing another darkness: it has destroyed Ukraine’s supply and export of wheat. That darkness, even in more peaceful times, is always with millions of hungry people throughout the world. The conflict is prompting countries to hoard wheat. The poor of Africa, who rely on this wheat, are on the verge of starvation. Even when war does not destroy food sources, still the poor go hungry. Economists tell us that there would have enough to eat if the world’s food and goods were more equitably distributed. This is a point made by the “Bread for the World” movement. Their literature is readily available and they have an office in Washington for a quick call if we need statistics for preaching, or classes. Try their webpage for a fast response. Or, call a local group that feeds the hungry for information. The gospel story has the word “distribution” in it and the disciples are in charge of that “distribution”. We also need to tend to distribution, i.e., to note how things are being distributed. Who are left out when decisions are made locally and on a national level about who gets the “goods” and who does not.

A large crowd is fed and all have “enough.” They share a simple meal, all eat, no one gets different, or fancier food and thus there is enough for all. Consider the word—“enough.” Who gets “More than enough,” in our world; who doesn’t get “enough”? Try calling a local food pantry to find out if they have “enough” food. I know a men’s group that collects slightly damaged food from local supermarkets that richer people don’t buy. They take the food to a food pantry for the poor. Another parish has families taking turns going to a shelter to bring and cook meals on a regular basis. Are there similar efforts in our own congregation that somehow can make Jesus’ “feeding presence” felt in the community of the hungry? The disciples wanted to send the crowd away, push the hungry out of sight and so forget their needs. “As sunset approached....” It is dark indeed because of their blindness. Jesus wants the opposite. Initially he tells the people the very good news of the reign and heals them (the first verse). But then the reign’s reality is felt, made visible, ”enfleshed,” when he responds to their hungry. The disciples now are the ones to receive a healing when they “see” how to address the needs of these people. First there are small groups of 50—little communities are formed to make the meal personal, to heal the hungers of our alienation.

We are not just an anonymous crowd of “the hungry” any longer. We are a community that shares the bread in a meal of equality. People of higher ranking don’t get more than those of lower; we all get more than enough for our hungers. And as disciples, we learn not to distance ourselves from the needs of others, for in small groups, we get to know each other and are better able to feed the hungers of body and spirit of those around us. Our church communities, though larger than the groups of fifty in the story, become ways we can get to know one another and attend to the hungers we discover there. In the Eucharistic bread and wine today we are receiving the One who invites us to come close and receive a healing. We are also receiving the One who asks his disciples, “Why do you not give them something to eat yourselves?” Our response may be puzzlement and confusion as we look at the enormity of the problem. But the Eucharist can heal us and open our eyes and minds to how we can feed the hungry and where they can be found in our immediate environment. There is a healing for us too in this story, as our eyes are opened, and this healing comes by way of the food Jesus provides.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

“Give them some food yourselves.”

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

Adapted from Jude Siciliano O.P., 2022:
As we note Jesus’ hospitality, how welcoming and generous are we at our celebrations?
As Jesus says a blessing, are we aware of the blessing that food is?
And the gift we enjoy when we eat?
Do we treat food as something precious?
We note how simple meals can satisfy in a community, and how all eat the same food and are nourished. God has more than enough (they had “leftovers”) to satisfy our hungers at this meal. What kind of examples are we setting for our children in regard to simple life styles, care for others, frugality, etc.?
We read : “…they followed his instructions” …the hungry must be fed. We have his instructions. Do we live them?
Are there people in our current society who are “gathered in a lonely place”? Who are they?
”Give them some food yourselves”. In what way are you personally called to feed God’s people?
What is my feeling about the Eucharist? Do I connect it with the story of the Loaves and fishes?
Loaves and Fishes = Eucharist = Hospitality. Where do I fit into this equation?
In this story, what criteria did Jesus use in deciding who should be fed?
What criterial does the Church use in deciding who should be fed?
What food in my panty could I share with the hungry?
Do I support, with time or money, parish or community programs that feed the hungry?
What hungers do I see around me in my daily life?
How do I respond to those hungers?
by Daniel J Harrington. S.J.:
Which aspects of the Eucharist do you find most meaningful?
What are the concrete ways in which the Eucharist shapes your life as a Christian?
What Is there a disconnect between my prayer life, my “church” life and the everyday life I lead? Why or why not?
According to Father Ronald Rolheiser in The Holy Longing, when Jesus talks about eating his flesh, he uses a term for the body in all its messiness and ugliness, not some glorified or intellectual notion of body. (Sarx is the Greek word used, one that refers to the body in its messiness and ugliness, its illness and dysfunction)
Are we messy, dysfunctional? Are we beautiful? How do we know this?
Is the Church messy, dysfunctional? How?
Is the Church holy, graced and beautiful? How?
Do you expect the Church to be perfect? Better than it is? Why or why not?
Have I ever had an experience of being ‘fed’ by God’s word?
Jesus made the crowds welcome! Have I a sense of being made welcome by Jesus and all that that being ‘made welcome’ can mean for me?
From “Sacred Space”, a ministry of the Irish Jesuits:
The text does not take into account the number of women and children.!
What is that like for me to read this?
Will I read this text differently depending on my gender?
From Stephen Cole, online commentary:
Since there are so many needs in the world, how do we know where to devote our time, effort, and money?
When is it right to say “no” to the needs and demands of people?
Are there areas of service you should not refuse just because you think that you are not so gifted?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

This gospel is as much about the Apostles as it is about a miracle performed by Jesus. Or maybe the miracle is that Jesus saw in the few loaves and fishes possessed by his disciples food and sustenance for a large number of needy people. When Jesus said: “You feed them yourselves”, he was teaching them self-reliance, initiative and most of all, generosity. The apostles had to give something away, not know what plans Jesus had for their meager gifts. So the questions we might have for ourselves about the message and challenges of this gospel section are several: Do I believe that God actually gives us each day the sustenance we need? Can I differentiate between what I want and what I actually need? Do I see myself as an agent of Jesus bringing “food”, comfort, safety to those in our world who might need it, or do I expect a miracle?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Imagine that you are one of the crowd following Jesus that day. What do you have with you as provisions for the day away from home? Are you hungry? Thirsty? What do you so when you hear the apostles telling you to sit down? Do you expect to be fed? How? Imagine the scene as people begin to sit on the ground. Do you sit with people you already know, or is everyone a stranger? When Jesus has blessed the food and passes it out, do you share also what you have brought with you? Do others? What is the miracle here?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

“They all ate and were satisfied.” (—Luke 9:17)

The prayer which we repeat at every Mass: “Give us this day our daily bread,” obliges us to do everything possible, in cooperation with international, state and private institutions to end or at least reduce the scandal of hunger and malnutrition afflicting so many millions of people in our world, especially in developing countries. In a particular way, the Christian laity, formed at the school of the Eucharist, are called to assume their specific political and social responsibilities. To do so, they need to be adequately prepared through practical education in charity and justice. To this end it is necessary for Dioceses and Christian communities to teach and promote the Church’s social doctrine. (—Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict XVI, 2007)

Did you know?

An estimated 854 million people across the world are hungry.
Every year, 15 million children die from hunger-related causes—one child every five seconds.
35.1 million people in the US—including 12.4 million children—live in households that experience hunger or the risk of hunger. This represents more than one in ten households in the United States (11.0 percent).
Nearly one in four people, 1.3 billion—a majority of humanity—live on less than $1 per day, while the world’s 358 billionaires have assets exceeding the combined annual incomes of countries with 45 percent of the world’s people.
Infant mortality rate is closely linked to inadequate nutrition among pregnant women. The U.S. ranks 23rd among industrial nations in infant mortality.
To satisfy the world’s sanitation and food requirements would cost US$13 billion—what the people of the U.S. and the European Union spend on perfume each year.

What Can I do?

Don’t take your “daily bread” for granted.
Fast for a day to better understand the experience of hunger and to be in solidarity with the hungry of the world. Donate the money you would have spent on food to a hunger program, local or global.
Learn about issues of hunger and how you can make a difference.
Join one of your parish or community ministries which address issues of hunger. Do something!

Literary Reflection:

Commenting on her poem, Mary Oliver wrote words of wisdom for theologians: “Centuries ago theologians claimed they had parsed with precision how God acted on the bread and wine during the celebration of the Eucharist. This wasn’t helpful. Their lust for certitude bruised a mystery which was best left alone. It eventually birthed theological wars about the nature of a meal that was ironically intended to mend, not tear apart. I don’t need to know what happens to the bread and wine to experience the oceanic love of God that I feel when I receive it, any more than a newborn needs to know the mother’s name and address to see and feel the adoration in her gaze. To which I wish all God’s people might say, ‘Amen’”.

“The Vast Ocean Begins Just Outside Our Church: The Eucharist”

Something has happened
To the bread
And the wine.

They have been blessed.
What now?
The body leans forward

To receive the gift
From the priest’s hand,
Then the chalice.

They are something else now
From what they were
Before this began.

I want
To see Jesus,
Maybe in the clouds

Or on the shore,
Just walking,
Beautiful man

And clearly
Someone else
Besides.

On the hard days
I ask myself
If I ever will.

Also there are times
My body whispers to me
That I have.

—Mary Oliver, from Thirst

Poetic Reflection:

This is a beautiful meditation on the real meaning of Corpus Christi:

"Gather the People"

What return can we make
for all the Lord has done in our lives?
We bring bread, wine, our clay dishes
and our clay feet
to this altar
and we pray that we may here
make a beginning—
that somehow in our days
we can begin to see the promises
the Lord has made us.

The promises do not always
glow with obvious light, or
overwhelm us by their obvious truth.
No matter what anyone says,
it is difficult to understand an invisible God
and belief is not always
the easy way out.

So we gather the people
and we tell the story again
and we break the bread
and in the memory of the one
who saves us,
we eat and drink
and we pray and we believe.

We gather, we pray, we eat.
These things are for human beings.
God has no need of them.
Yet he himself gathered the people,
prayed, broke bread
and gave it to his friends.

And so the invisible God became
visible
and lives with us.

—Ed Ingebretzen, S.J., from Psalms of the Still Country

Closing Prayer

God of Abundance, give us the generosity to see that we are the body of Christ in this world. Help us to feed the hungry and care for those in need, and provide charity based on relationship, not pity. Give us the insight to realize that the meaning of true success may not be measured in money or power, but in serving others. Help us to recognize the joy of the Eucharist and to proclaim Christ in our daily lives…

Weekly Reflections

The Body and Blood of Christ, June 19, 2022