Five Loaves and Two Fish
A little boy was found among five thousand and he alone had 5 barley loaves and 2 fishbut what was this among so many? Jesus bade the men to sit down. Like Moses Jesushad brought his apostles and disciples up a mount in order to teach them. Looking up He saw the multitude who came because of His power to heal and to make whole their broken humanity. Philip indicates the human perspective: “Not even a little piece of bread could be given this crowd with our 200 pennies.” The apostles were of one accord to send the people away because they failed to understand the power of divinity. Do we?
With the five loaves of this little fellow and the two fish, Jesus fed the multitude. Recallthe first temptation of satan to transform these rocks into loaves of bread…feed the people and they will follow you. Not on bread alone does man live but on every wordthat comes forth from God. That’s it! The five loaves represent God feeding His peoplewith the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible). The two fish represent the lawand the Prophets. Jesus perfects the word of God given to the young man who is the symbol of the Jewish people.
Let’s go more deeply into this mystery. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh and He feeds us ultimately with His Body and Blood. Every mass begins with the Word of God broken by the Alter Christus and distributed by the priest in Holy Communionto the multitudes who have found faith in the Word of God. In Jesus every wordfrom God finds its fullest meaning. In the Old Testament the New Testament is contained in hidden form. In the New Testament the truth of the Old Testament ismade clear.
Now you and I have received the Word of God in every true Mass and from the Word we gaze upon the greatest Work of God, that He died to ransom our souls.Without the Word shedding His Blood His Work would be incomplete. By shedding His Precious Blood we have been reunited to the Divine Trinity and have more graces now than ever before. Innocence has been regained and now we can cast out and crush the head of the devil by the heel of Mary.
Now do not throw out the fragments of your life. They must be collected and consecrated by touching the Master. There is nothing in anyone’s life that cannot be sanctified through the Word of Absolution in a holy and humble confession.Be brave and make the Word live in your hearts through sincere confessions and the humble reception of the Word of God made flesh in the host consecrated.
Never be cowed by the numbers against you for with God all things are possible and with faith and hope our charity towards our neighbor will increase and Christ will bepraised by the words of men. Let no one fool you if you possess the Word of God inyour heart (the union of the intellect with the will) then you possess the Christ and you can conquer all obstacles as the human bows before the divine.
Rejoice and be glad for the Lord has not given up on us but seeks those who willcheerfully suffer in union with Him upon the Cross of Calvary. Remember suffering without Christ is nothing more than pain, but with Christ it is a holy and redemptive sacrifice. In our sorrowful Mother let us carry our crosses with the deepest love we can muster. Save a soul daily through the sacrifices of your life.
In the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Fr. Voigt, S.D.B.
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