Oh! It's a marvellous miracle
and so simple to state.
So many fed
with so little bread!
But it's the depth of this miracle
that matters more.
This is the miracle
for the Church.
[PAUSE]
First,
the Lord reminds us clearly:
Man does not live
by bread alone
but by every word
that proceedeth
out of the mouth of God.
We must also remember
that miracles happen
in order to back up Our Lord's teaching.
So Our Lord breaks bread
and gives it to His disciples
to give to the people
and the people are fed.
Man is not fed by bread alone...
So we see connection
between the disciples
giving out bread to the multitudes,
the bread growing
more and more plentiful
at the Creator's hands,
and the words of the Gospel
preached by so few
and yet nourishing the people
with the greatest hope
that the hunger of their souls
may be filled
by the Eternal Love of God.
The feeding of the multitudes
is the sign that backs up
the Church's duty
to feed people with the word of God.
But Jesus is the Word of God.
[PAUSE]
"I am the bread of Life"
And we know that His body
is meat indeed,
and His blood is drink indeed.
The multitude is nourished
not just by food,
not just by the Gospel
but by the very Body of Christ.
Not the blood yet,
for His blood is to be shed
for the New Covenant
and that is ratified
upon the Cross.
It is why
we do not need to receive
the chalice in the Eucharist,
though we should be free
to do so.
But what we do see
is the disciples distributing
the Gospel
in word and Sacrament.
This is the business
of the Church.
This is the business
we need to mind.
The feeding of the multitudes
is precisely the
prophecy of the Christian priesthood
and the Christian sacraments
with all the grace of God
they convey.
This is the pattern
that Our Lord intended.
This is the Church
that Our Lord intended.
And this is our intention
to be faithful to this pattern
for the Church
that Christ has built.
We Christians
have a duty if business
to bring
the good news
to those who are
hungry and thirsty
for both Word and Sacrament.
There will be those
who receive it gratefully.
There will be those
who say, "hey! I want ketchup on that!"
There will be those
who smash it out of our hands
and spit on us.
But whatever they do
we will have tried to be faithful
because we are so grateful
for what we receive
that we want others
to receive it too.
We have received Christ Himself
in the words of the Gospel
and in the Sacrament of the Altar.
It's too good
not to share.
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