John 6:1-15
1 After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (of Tiberias).
2 A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.
3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.
4 The Jewish feast of Passover was near.
5 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?"
6 He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, "Two hundred days' wages 5 worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little (bit)."
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
9 "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves 6 and two fish; but what good are these for so many?"
10 Jesus said, "Have the people recline." Now there was a great deal of grass 7 in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
11 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.
12 When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted."
13 So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.
14 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."
15 Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
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I wrote about loaves and fishes this a few months back, so today's gospel isn't anything new for me to write about. In fact, my first thought for today was to check the first reading and find something "better" to sink my teeth into. Pride is a lovely thing, isn't it?
My personal pride issues aside ... sometimes it's worth considering why the Church gives us certain readings at certain times. Take today's reading. Why now? During the Easter Season, the Church likes to reinforce the foretelling of Christ's coming and Christ's fulfillment of those prophecies, and also occasions where people recognize Christ's divinity.
This miracle, for my money, is only surpassed by walking on water and the raising of Lazarus in terms of a "wow" factor. Check verses 14-15 for what happens in its wake -- we have people recognizing that Christ might be the "Prophet". This is the prophet foretold in Deuteronomy, and is one of the "marks" of the Messiah.
More to say but no time to say it, so I'll stop here.
