No Longer Just a Story

We hear of the multiplication of the loaves and fish today as we celebrate the Solemnity of the Corpus Christi. It is story that we associate with the Eucharistic celebration during Mass as well as one that many of us remember from the picture bibles of our childhood. The people reclining on the grass, the baskets, the loaves, along with Jesus and the disciples in the colorful portrait.

However, I was prompted to reflect much deeper on this passage as our deacon in his always thought provoking discourse of scripture passages asked us to probe deeper into Luke's Gospel. He took us through the passage to the point where the disciples ask Jesus to send the crowd away.  Jesus replies "Give them some food yourselves." We all know what proceeds. Simply said the deacon's message was we are blessed with many loaves or talents and we are asked to feed others.  This insight had me thinking more profoundly.

The talents that I am given are not of my doing, but from the grace of God. However, I must rely on God to uncover these talents.  When I eat of the loaves I am united with my brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. If I am focused on my own needs, my own self-centeredness, I neglect the body of Christ or as Pope Francis states, "We are torn from him when we are disobedient." These talents are loaves which can be multiplied by actions of love and forgiveness. It is only a matter of me finding these through prayer and reflection. But what about the Blood of Christ?

The connection I see here is that I must make sacrifices to be able to love.  Of course none of my sacrifices are comparable to those who truly gave up their lives to carry out the Gospel message.  "Can you drink from my cup?"  Jesus ask in Mark earlier this week. Perhaps I can drink of the cup is some small way. It is carrying out the message of of serving, instead of being served, loving, instead of seeking to be loved that I become part of the Body of Christ. As a broken individual full of sin, I find that the St. Francis prayer is of great solace, thus I seek God to reveal the loaves so that I can feed the hungry, the suffering, the ill.