Give them some food yourselves

Before Jesus, there was John the Baptist, the charismatic prophet whom the vast crowd followed. But now, he is dead, beheaded in prison at the behest of Herod and Herodias. The crowd now turn to Jesus whom the Baptist had pointed out, “The one who is coming after me is mightier than I” (Mt 3:11).

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They follow him, bringing their sick, and he teaches them at great length. As evening falls, his disciples ask Jesus to dismiss the crowd so they can buy food for themselves. It does not enter their mind that Jesus can feed the multitude; the people have to fend for themselves. But Jesus wants his disciples to be involved and so tells them, “Give them some food yourselves” (v 16). The disciples see their incapacity; they have only five loaves and two fish. Jesus works a miracle, but it is the miracle of faith, of prayer, created by compassion and love. Reflecting on this episode, Pope Francis says that, “the Lord meets the needs of mankind, but wants to render each one of us a concrete participant in his compassion... Jesus wants to reach everyone, in order to bring God’s love to all. For this reason, he makes every believer a servant of mercy. Jesus sees the crowd, feels compassion for them and multiplies the loaves; thus, he does the same with the Eucharist. We believers who receive this Eucharistic bread are spurred by Jesus to take this service to others, with his same compassion” (General Audience, 17 August 2016).