In our first reading today, the prophet Elisha received a gift of bread and noticed that the people around him were hungry. So, moved by compassion and generosity, he decides to feed them with what he received. The Lord saw his generous and compassionate heart and spoke through him: “They will eat and have left over.” Similarly in our gospel passage today, moved by compassion for his flock, Jesus feeds more than five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. Both the prophet Elisha and Jesus cared for both spiritual and physical needs of their flock.
There are three things that we can learn from these miracles. The first one is the compassion of Elisha and Jesus towards their flock. Compassion always moved Jesus to do great things for his people. Compassion means feeling and sharing both the pains and joys of other people. It is the basis of empathy and sympathy. We need compassion to understand what it means for others to be hungry, thirsty, sick, homeless, jobless and lonely. The second point is that God can transform something small into something big. Elisha fed hundred people with twenty loaves of bread. Jesus fed more than five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. The third point is the generosity of the small boy with five loaves and two fish, in the miracle in the gospel. He offered what he had generously, and it became the basis of a miracle for his community. The boy made a difference with the little he had. He exhibited the community spirit that St. Paul speaks about in our second reading, when he talks of the virtues that we need to live and survive together as a body of Christ united by one faith, one baptism, and one spirit. The virtues include: “charity, compassion, generosity, humility, gentleness and patience towards one another.”
The readings challenge us to be ready to share the little we have. This might be the source of a miracle for our community. That little shared can make a difference in the life of someone in the community. When compassion and generosity embrace, the result is usually a great miracle for the community united by one faith, one spirit, and one baptism in Christ. Today, Jesus is looking for those who are ready to offer two fish and five loaves of bread to perform the miracle seriously needed in our community. That person might be you. If you share the little you have, you could be the next hero in the next miracle of Jesus for your community.
God bless you all. Fr. Henry