Commentary on the Gospel of
We are presented today with the story of the multiplication of the loaves, one of the great signs that Jesus uses in John’s Gospel. What might escape our notice is the tiny contribution of a little child and what Jesus chose to do with it. Jesus could have gone solo but instead he chose to involve our littleness in the building up of the Kingdom. The boy gave the little he had and it made all the difference. If we offer nothing to God, He has nothing to use. The way of God is to accept the little that we offer and turn it into something great. Jesus’ incredible wisdom in the Gospel story is paralleled by that of Gamaliel in the first reading.
For us the bottom line is that the people, as we see in the first reading, were fed on the good news, uninterrupted, just as the people in the Gospel were fed on multiplied bread at the hands of Jesus. In the miracle story, there were leftovers and in abundance. What Jesus left over to his Church and to disciples is the bread of his Word. It needs to be multiplied and distributed to feed the hungry multitudes today. The Lord waits for our availability and little resources so that he can do marvels in our world.
