Sharing Our Loaves and Fish

Homily: Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

John 6: 1-15

28 July 2024

Fr. Ricky Cañet Montañez 

Before anything else, I wanted to say thank you again to all those who donated funds, goods, and their time and effort to the relief operations of the church. Sa pinagsama-sama ninyong donasyon, marami po tayong natulungan sa mga naapektuhan ng bagyong Carina. We may not have been able to help the thousands affected all over Metro Manila but to the hundreds who received hot meals and emergency supplies, it meant the world to them. 

The feeding of the crowd of five thousand with five loaves and two fish has a lot to teach us about feeding those who are less fortunate among us, both in the physical and in the spiritual senses. It is very difficult for someone to believe in the good news of Jesus Christ when they do not concretely feel the love and mercy that is being preached. They can reject it as empty words and promises. When we translate into good works, our belief in Christ’s teaching, it proves to others that the gospel is real. When I was a youth volunteer of the Institucion Teresiana, we used to teach children in Sitio Mintapod in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon.  Some of the children would walk for hours every day just to get to the learning centre. As soon as they arrived, they were first fed and given some toiletries for their basic personal hygiene training. Once their physical hunger was addressed, they were ready for the lessons that would feed their intellectual and spiritual hunger. 

Let us go back to the concerns of Jesus’ disciples in the gospel. 

When Jesus asks: “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” (John 6:5)

Philip responds: “ Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” (John 6:7)

Andrew, on the other hand is quick to point out what the other has, not what he has. “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” (John 6:9) 

These are legitimate problems if we look at the situation from a logical standpoint. The best option would really have been to send the people home to eat but Jesus did not want them to simply dismiss the crowds. He wanted to feed them. This was the perfect moment for Jesus to teach the disciples to trust in God’s providence and to help them realise their role in continuing His saving mission. They are tasked to look after the people entrusted to them, not only to feel sorry for their plight, but more so to show them God’s compassionate love by attending to their concerns and by providing for their needs. 

Tomorrow will be the opening of classes in public schools.  So many of our children will go to school in a less than perfect situation. I was talking to a family in the evacuation centre and the mother was telling me that they lost everything in the flood including the school supplies of the children for the opening of classes tomorrow. Children who go to private schools will start the year with new shoes, a new school bag filled with new school supplies and their lunch boxes will be filled with their favourite snacks for recess.  It is not the same for public school children. Individuals who want to help can sometimes be overwhelmed by the reality of how much is needed to address the needs of these children.  Often like the disciples, we, too would rather defer our assistance once we find ourselves thinking that five loaves and two fish are nothing much to the numerous needs of our brothers and sisters; it will not be enough to share with thousands of others. Like Jesus’ disciples we also find ourselves thinking: “We have so little, we have nothing for so many people.” “I have nothing to give because I am a nobody myself.” (“Ano maiaambag ko eh kung ano ang meron ako, kulang pa nga sa pang araw-araw namin.”) The Feeding of the Multitude teaches us that God sees our efforts and He will supply what is needed. All we need to do is to be generous with the graces we have received and believe in God’s providence. 

Today’s gospel calls us to witness to the love of God for His people by sharing our loaves and fish to feed those in need. The little that we have when shared in love will go a long way in assuring our less fortunate brothers and sisters of God’s presence in their struggles. This brings to mind what St. Pedro Poveda once said: “One does not need to be rich in order to give, one only needs to be good; when one is good he/she will always find something to give.” We are not looking to make an earth-shattering impact or resolving major problems in society. Let us simply be sensitive to the needs of those around us and be ready to share what we have to help relieve the suffering of others.   

Brothers and sisters, in whatever we do, regardless of how menial or negligible the task may seem to us, we have to do this out of love. We would be surprised that the little we have shared was actually the blessing that others needed to assure them of God’s love and compassion for them.

The Loaves and Fish by Janice Cook