Today’s Gospel reading is St. Mark’s account of the feeding of the multitudes. I’ve prayed with this passage many times and have had different experiences when I have. This morning what came to my mind was a simple message for us in the passage: There is always enough to share.
When Jesus suggests to his disciples that they feed the crowds before dismissing them, they ask where it is possible to get enough bread to feed them. When he asks how many loaves they have, they reply, “Seven.” You can almost imagine their reaction when he asked – and the tone with which they answered his question. I suspect what they were really thinking was – We only have seven loaves and that is just enough for us. We can’t spare any of our supplies to share with anyone else. We just don’t have enough to share.
What happened when Jesus took those seven loaves and blessed them, I don’t know. People can posit all sorts of explanations for how all those people got fed. But they were fed.
While I don’t imagine any of us can take seven loaves of bread and feed four thousand people, I do believe that we always have enough to share. And that when we do – when we open our hearts to the needs of others – miraculous things can happen.
Creo en Dios! 