There’s something about this awesome story that has always bothered me.  Now, I realize that I grew up in an Italian-American family and that Italian-Americans have a different perception of food and its importance in life.  Have I ever told you guys about the time I went home and my family was sitting at the table eating breakfast, lunch was on the stove cooking, and the discussion at breakfast was about what we were going to have to eat for dinner.  And…Oh, it gets better…  And… the Food Channel was on TV.  I kid you not!  That’s an obsession with food.  People normally don’t think about food that much.  But I would say, that all of us, think and plan and prepare so that we and our families are not going to go hungry.  This is especially true when we are having big gatherings or we are going to be traveling or away from home at meal times.  All of us, Italian, French, German, Hispanic, Japanese, Australian, ALL of us know how to prepare for meals.  Isn’t the most surprising part of this story the fact that all of those thousands of people walked out to that mountain that day, and that only one boy thought ahead enough to bring his lunch along?  What were these people thinking?  You don’t have to be Italian to realize you hike out to a mountain and stay there all day listening to somebody talk, and you’re going to get hungry as the day goes on.  Why weren’t these people better prepared?   Why does Jesus HAVE to do this miracle?

       Plus, the Gospel even says, “The Jewish Feast of Passover was near”.  Now when most of us know that a holiday is near, and there are going to be people stopping by, and there are going to be special celebrations, we buy extra food.  We budget our money accordingly.  We prepare.  We plan ahead.  The Jewish Feast of Passover was one of the biggest feasts of the year.  It could very easily be compared to our Thanksgiving.  The Passover meal was a huge Feast.  So where was all that food?  Did these people just leave everything at home and rush out to hear Jesus speak without taking anything with them?  It appears that that is exactly what happened.  These people left quickly to go and hear Jesus, and there is also this indication that their great desire at this time was to find God and to get up to Jerusalem for the Feast and Festival.  Maybe it’s because Jesus knew what they were really seeking, that Jesus makes it His great desire to feed this huge number of people.  And here’s where things start getting really interesting.

        Jesus first asks the Apostles what THEY are going to do about the situation.  This must have been in the full-knowledge that He already knows what HE is going to do.  And the Apostles are in shock.  Jesus can’t be serious here.  It’s Philip that sums up the feelings of all of them, when he points out to Jesus just how impossible this situation is.   There are too many people and not enough money.    Maybe, what Jesus is really asking, is do we care enough to sacrifice from what we have, to care about others?  Clearly, what is also true, is that Jesus wants His Apostles involved in this His greatest miracle.  So Jesus takes the boy’s fish and loaves, He says a blessing, be breaks both the bread and the fish, and then the Apostles pass them out to the huge crowd.  And everybody gets taken care.  The Apostles, the boy, the crowd, those who ate a lot, and those who didn’t eat a lot,  probably even a few Romans, they all ate enough to satisfy their need.  God took care of them all.

         The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand was done to glorify God, first and foremost, and secondly, to take care of God’s people’s needs.  It was shared to show that God does indeed care even in situations that seem desperate.    In the face of scarcity and hunger, God provided food and plenty of it.  How many times do we need to know this same thing?  Sometimes, things seem so impossible to us too.  We wonder how we are going to make things “work”.  We worry about whether or not there will be enough money.  Today we worry about the cost of gas, and credit card bills.  We worry about whether or not we’ll have enough time, or energy, or health, or stamina to get done what we need to get done.  And all the while, God, the same God who fed over five thousand people on that mountainside that day, is saying “Why don’t you let me take care of it?”  Why don’t we give more of our problems and our worries to God?  He’s been the expert in difficult situations for thousands of years.  He’s got us covered, IF we let Him.

          Isn’t the real message in this miracle that we hear about today, that when we allow God to be involved in our lives, in all parts of our lives – the good and the bad, great things can happen.  And like the feeding of the five thousand, not all of the time will they be explainable, but they will still be wonderful.  They will be signs that indeed God is still with us.

          May God bless us on this warm Sunday morning,  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…          AMEN !!!

St. Maria Goretti…                       Pray for us !!!