Introduction
My dear brothers and sisters, we just heard a passage from the Gospel of John, which is strange, in a sense. It's strange because this year is the second year of the three-year cycle of liturgical readings - Year B. As you know, ever since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has been following this three-year cycle of Sunday readings. Before the Council, the Church followed a one-year cycle.
The three-year cycle was designed to give us more exposure to the vast riches contained in the sacred scriptures. During each of the three years, the Sunday Gospels focus on one evangelist. Year A gives us readings from St. Matthew's Gospel, Year C gives us readings from St Luke, and Year B, this year, gives us readings from St Mark. But this week we have begun making our way through the sixth chapter of St John's Gospel - why is that? The reason is pretty simple. St Mark's Gospel is the shortest of the four Gospels.
So, we needed to fill in some weeks to make it all the way through the long season of Ordinary Time. And since St John's Gospel doesn't have its own year (we usually read through it during the intense liturgical seasons like Christmas and Easter), this created a perfect opportunity to spend a few weeks to go through this crucial chapter.
And so, for the next four weeks, we will have a chance to reflect on the lessons it contains. This is especially important lessons, because John Chapter 6 is all about the Eucharist, and the Eucharist is, as the Catechism teaches, us "the source and summit of the Christian life" (Catechism #1324).
That's a serious claim, and we would we wise to learn more about it. In today's miraculous multiplication of the loaves, Jesus teaches us two critical things about this most Blessed Sacrament.
Part I: The Eucharist Was Christ's Idea
The first critical thing is that it was his idea. Some critics of the Catholic Church argue that the central role of the Eucharist in Church life was a later invention. They say that as Church bureaucracy grew through the centuries, it invented devotion to the Eucharist as a way to give more power to the priests.
It is true that our understanding of the meaning of the Eucharist has increased as the centuries have passed. And it is true that practices like adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and solemn benediction were developed only as the centuries moved along.
But it is not true that the fact of the Eucharist itself was a "later invention." It was Christ's own idea. This will become clearer and clearer as we make our way through Chapter 6 of St John's Gospel - in fact, you may want to read through the whole chapter at home today, looking for clues that the Eucharist was the Lord's idea; you'll find plenty. But even before he starts talking about the Eucharist, we can see him preparing for it.
Notice, for example, how closely this multiplication of the loaves resembles the Mass, which is the perpetual celebration of the Eucharist. First of all, St. John tells us that "the Jewish feast of the Passover was near," and we know that on the feast of Passover, during the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist. Then St. John explains that a large crowd was gathering around Jesus, because they had seen his signs of healing.
Well, only baptized Catholics can receive the Eucharist, because they have been previously freed from original sin by the sacrament of baptism, a sign of spiritual healing. And then some people from the crowd bring a few offerings to Jesus - the loaves and fish, just like our offertory after the Creed. And what did Jesus do? He "gave thanks" and then "distributed" the food.
This mirrors perfectly the second half of Mass. In the Eucharistic prayer the priest gives thanks to God on behalf of the congregation, and then he distributes Holy Communion. And to top it all off, St John specifies that there were basketfuls of bread and fish leftover, and Jesus instructed his apostles to gather them together and preserve them.
That's exactly what we do with the hosts that remain after Communion; we gather them in the ciboria and reserve them in the tabernacle. All of this is no accident. Jesus is not just giving the crowds a free lunch to show them God's generosity and concern; he is also getting them ready to understand his coming discourse about the Eucharist.
This mirrors perfectly the second half of Mass. In the Eucharistic prayer the priest gives thanks to God on behalf of the congregation, and then he distributes Holy Communion. And to top it all off, St John specifies that there were basketfuls of bread and fish leftover, and Jesus instructed his apostles to gather them together and preserve them.
That's exactly what we do with the hosts that remain after Communion; we gather them in the ciboria and reserve them in the tabernacle. All of this is no accident. Jesus is not just giving the crowds a free lunch to show them God's generosity and concern; he is also getting them ready to understand his coming discourse about the Eucharist.
Part II: We Really Need the Eucharist
The second critical thing that today's Gospel tells us about the Eucharist is that we really need it. The crowds following Jesus had no food. And the disciples had no money to buy food. The five loaves and two fish were simply not enough to do the job.
The apostles were at the end of their rope; they were helpless; they could do nothing to satisfy the needs of the people. Some sceptics argue that actually the people had plenty of food, but they didn't want to share it. And so, the critics say, the real miracle is that somehow Jesus, by sharing what he had, convinced them all to do the same thing.
But to reading this passage, and the parallel passages in the other Gospels, in that way is to do violence to the Bible - it's distorting the words of the text, not interpreting them.
The fact that Jesus really did multiply the bread is emphasized by today's First Reading, where the prophet Elisha performed a similar miracle for a hundred people. Only the power of God was sufficient to meet the needs described by these passages of the Bible.
It reminds us of another Old Testament passage where God's power had to intervene when he sent the Israelites manna in the desert. That too was a foreshadowing of the Eucharist, the true bread from heaven, as next week's Gospel passage will remind us. If Jesus hadn't intervened with his miracle, those people would have gone hungry; they needed bread, and only Jesus could give it to them. The same thing goes for us today.
To live the lives of wisdom, courage, hope, faith, and self-giving that we are called to live, in a sin-infected culture that is like a desert, void of all those virtues, we need God's help. And he gives it to us, by feeding us with his very own wisdom, faith, courage and strength, through the Eucharist.
Conclusion: Living Mass Deeply
Giving us the Eucharist, the supernatural nourishment of Christ's own body and blood, was God's idea. And he came up with this idea because he looked out at us, saw the depths of our hearts, and knew that we needed his help, his love, his grace.
Every Mass is a celebration of this great gift of the Eucharist. As we continue with this Mass, let's make an effort to live it deeply. And we can live it deeply, by paying attention to the sacred words of the liturgy, by stirring up sentiments of gratitude and faith in our hearts, and by remembering that we are not alone,that through this Mass we are connected to Catholics throughout the world and throughout history who have gathered around the same altar and received the same Holy Communion, obeying our Lords' command: "Do this in remembrance of me."