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Theo Tigno•
4/19/2012 1:25 pm
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Friday of the Second Week of Easter |
John 6: 1-15
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?" He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted." So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world." Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
Dawg's Thought:
Today's prayer intention - for an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
Five barley loaves ...
When David slew Goliath, he came with five smooth stones. I have heard something important about the significance of five: it represents the first five books of the the Pentateuch. The scholars have interpreted that as coming armed with the word of God.
Looking at today's reading, it was easy to gloss over the fact that the boy who had five loaves. It was a boy who brought five smooth stones when it came to battling a champion and it was a boy who brought five loaves to feed five thousand.
I am not a Biblical scholar but I do find it curious that David had five smooth stones and it was a boy who had five loaves. It is also curious that the evil one tempted Christ to change stones to bread. With these in mind, I wonder then if we could look at the five loaves as another type of symbol of the word of God.
It was Christ, then, Who worked a miracle with the word of God. It was not merely just having the word of God, for if that was the case, any boy could feed five thousand with five loaves. It is Christ Who feeds us with His Body and His Blood. It is Christ Who feeds us with His word. It is Christ Who brings life to the word of God in us and in this world.
There is a lot of good that God has done and continues to do. We are active participants in sharing His word and in sharing what we have so that He can do great good. How can we do this today? What can we offer today?
Take care and God Bless.
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