He has just heard of the death of John the Baptist. Death. Jesus has come to conquer death. And now death has taken a horrific move toward the Lord. His cousin has been killed. John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s womb at the presence of Jesus in the womb of Mary. John later baptized Jesus. And now this.
Jesus felt the pain of the death of John. The Lord was hurt. He withdraws, but the crowds follow Him. And when the Lord sees the crowd, His heart is moved with compassion for them. In his own hurt, the Lord makes room for those who are exhausted and spent. And there were 5,000 in the crowd.
The Lord takes five loaves and two fish. The apostles probably wondered why Jesus was taking seven loaves and two fish. For five thousand people? The apostles had other ideas as to what would work. But Jesus goes deeper. How? He said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who then gave the loaves to the crowds. Jesus involves the disciples in His gift of bread to those who are hungry. He invites the disciples to go deep with Him. They are part of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves.
Jesus invites you and me to be part of the miracle. We may not be sure what miracle. We may have another solution, another idea, or another way forward. But then Jesus invites us. He invites us to part of the miracle He is planning – not necessarily the miracle we want or envision.
How do we make ourselves ready for Jesus? Meet Him more deeply. How do we do that? Partake of the five loaves and two fish. Five loaves and two fish. Five and two. That adds up to seven. The seven Sacraments. We meet Jesus in the Sacraments. It may seem that there is so much going on in our lives and there is so much we need to do that have other ideas as to what will work.
But be like the apostles. Accept what Jesus offers – the Sacraments. With Jesus, make room for those who are exhausted. Go deeper with Jesus. And await the unexpected abundance. Go deeper with Jesus.
God bless,
Msgr. Brian Bransfield
