"You give them something"

...They need not go away." Matthew 14.

What is this which the Lord commands that the Apostles give to the others? It begins with a few loaves and fish but ends with an abundance that feeds the hungry thousands with plenty left over. The little they have does not accomplish this; only with the power of God has this been done.

They are sent, then, to give Him to others. Their words, presence and energies are to be multiplied by grace so that the many can be "fed" by God Himself with a life that is not from "bread alone".

There is another "Bread", not from themselves but something received from Another. The Lord sends some to give to others this "something" in order that they "need got go away". We cannot give what we do not have.

The Apostles have been given by Christ that which they did not have before: the grace of the Lord Himself. And this grace is sufficient that they are able to obey His command to "give" something to the others. It is also true that this gift which the Lord sends them to give is something that the multitudes cannot find should they go away even to the ends of the earth.

Jesus the Lord is this "Gift" which is given abundantly, all over the world, as the apostles of today celebrate the feast of the "Bread of Life".

Lord, truly give us to eat of this Bread that we may never hunger or thirst for You again.
Amen.
+ mcitl

Meeting Christ in the Liturgy offers a reflection for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Photo: Paleo-Christian mosaic, Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fishes at Tabgha, Galilee.)