There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves

3 AUGUST (Mt 14,13-21)

When Jesus speaks, his words are loaded with a command that applies to the current moment we are living in history; but they are often loaded with an eternal prophecy. These are words that contain an order, a command that never sets, never ends. As long as the sun and moon will be fixed in heaven, the command maintains its validity. It is loaded with a mystery that must always be obeyed.

We should get used to read the Gospel in ever new ways, but for this the always present, perennial light of the Holy Spirit is necessary. If the Spirit of the Lord is not our daily interpreter, commentator, analyst, unifier of all the eternal truths contained in the divine word, we will always give to words contingent and never eternal meanings. Giving human meanings, never heavenly, of immediacy unable to transcend the very ages and to lead us to the threshold of our eternity.

The disciples are concerned about the crowd. It has been following Jesus for three days. The place is a deserted. There are no houses nearby. Hunger begins to be felt. It is right that it is dismissed so that they can go to get food. Jesus must give them, to the crowds that will follow in the course of time a living and true bread, descended from Heaven. He might not give this bread himself, his disciples must give it. But they know nothing of the mystery. They think of the bread of flour of wheat or other and respond to Jesus that they cannot. They have only five loaves and two fish.

Jesus multiplied the loaves, but only as a sign of the Eucharist, the admirable sacrament in which his body is present in every small piece of bread. Not by multiplication. The body of Christ is indivisible and not multipliable. It is one and it is one, the same, without any division in all the consecrated bread, or that will be consecrated on the face of our earth. For this new, true and live bread to be donated to the crowds it is necessary that the disciples put their bread of wheat. Jesus takes the bread they gave him, blesses the Lord and will always transform it into his body and blood.

For there to be true Eucharist it is necessary that there are quite six agents: God the Father, the Holy Spirit, the Son, the Priest, the bread and the wine. The bread and the wine must be looked for by the priest. The priest is called by Christ the Lord and by Him, always through the sacramental mediation of the Church, it is consecrated so that he can make, offer to the Father the memorial of the cross and give men the Body and Blood of Lord Jesus. The priest invokes the Father. He asks him to send his Holy Spirit to transform the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. First he offers to the Father his Incarnate Son, who died for our sins and rose for our justification, then he gives the faithful the same Body and the same Blood so that they feed on it and live.

When Jesus heard of it, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” (Jesus) said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over – twelve wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.

This particular multiplication by transformation must be accomplished every day in every part of the world. All the world is a spiritual desert, with no divine life in the hearts of men. All the crowds live under the shadow of death, exposed to perennial darkness. Real and divine life are in the Body and Blood. The body and blood of Jesus must be “made” by the priest. If he does not make them, the world remains with no true bread. Even if it received the divine life, it is unable to keep itself in it.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints help us love the Eucharist.