February 13, 2010
Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
"My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance." His disciples answered him, "Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?" Mark 8:2-4
Piety
Psalm 106:43-47
Many times did [God] rescue [his people], but they kept rebelling and scheming and were brought low by their own guilt. Still God had regard for their affliction when he heard their wailing. For their sake he remembered his covenant and relented in his abundant love, Winning for them compassion from all who held them captive. Save us, LORD, our God; gather us from among the nations That we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in praising you.
Study
“Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?” Mark 8:4
When something gets repeated, we lend to it special significance. Some biblical stories only appear in one Gospel (prodigal son and woman at the well come to mind for example). Other stories appear in the writings of all four evangelists. However, the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish is told six times in the gospels – twice each in Matthew and Mark and once in Luke and John underscoring the foreshadowing of the Eucharistic significance as well as the retelling of the “manna in the desert” narrative from the Hebrew Bible.
Jesus knows that before his followers can love God, they (we) must have satisfied the need for food, clothing, shelter and health. Therefore, Jesus meets us on the road and provides for these first level needs with the bread of life and the water that will satisfy. He does not want those who have become his followers collapsing from exhaustion before they (we) can spread the Good News.
But where do we place our trust? In the Pepperidge Farm delivery driver who is bringing loaves of bread to Safeway in the blizzard? This week, with the 2010 Snow Odyssey which struck the Mid-Atlantic States, you may have had to wait on long lines for groceries or witnessed store shelves that were empty of basic provisions. You may have lost power when trees or ice knocked down power lines until workers braving the elements could get out to make necessary repairs. You also were probably confined to quarters until the storms passed and you could get out of your house.
You also may have heard about neighbors shoveling out the driveways of the elderly and the sick. Or people with four-wheel drive vehicles volunteering to get essential workers to local hospitals. Or people walking into a store where there were no workers, picking up groceries and leaving money on the counter. Sometimes, the worst conditions bring out the best in all of us.
Jesus performed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish from what people brought to the gathering in the desert just like he started the miracle at Cana from the jogs of water on hand. We relive this miracle every day in the celebration of Mass.
Before the bread and wine are transformed, we have to place our offerings before the altar. What do you bring to the Lord? What is your offertory?
When we hope in the Lord, we can get a balance in our lives between what we have to do and what the Lord will provide to us from his eternal covenant. This does not mean that we should all stop working and become beggars. It does however, tell us what kind of perspective we must have that balances what the Lord provides to us with our use of the gifts we have to provide for ourselves and others.
Action
How many times have we echoed this line of the disciples? “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?” Mark 8:4
After the attacks of September 11…after the South Asian tsunami…after Hurricane Katrina…after the Haitian earthquake…driving through the inner city, Appalachia, or the reserved lands of Native Americans and more. The tremendous needs of the poor seem to outstrip our ability to help if we think in individual terms. "As each one has received a gift, use it serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace." (1 Peter 4:8-10)
If our gifts of time, talent and treasure are added to that of others and our trust is placed with the Lord to “multiply” these efforts, then we can see greater success than individually possible.
The answer is not so much in the work of “anyone,” but in the hearts and hands of “everyone.”
