“‘There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?’” (John 6:5).
Ever since I was a very little girl I have loved the story of the loaves and the fish.
Perhaps it is because my mother told me a story about her aunt, my great aunt, that seemed sort of similar.
My great aunt was a very poor woman in Lebanon. She had a very young family and there was simply not enough money for food. All she had was a little flour and some yeast. And so, one day she decided to make some bread for her family. However, there was not enough flour to make it. So, she missed the flour she had and added the yeast to the bowl with the water and covered it up. Because she left it alone, she made the sign of the cross on the dough and prayed to the Blessed Virgin to feed her family, as even this small amount of flour would not be enough to make enough bread for everyone to eat.
When she returned to the kitchen after a few hours, she discovered – much to her surprise – that the flour had risen so much that the dough now overflowed from the bowl and instead of not having enough bread for the family, she had more than enough to spare. This great aunt always considered this experience a miracle – although it is no official miracle of the Church. And I suppose that my knowledge of that experience of my great aunt and my understanding of the story, tie together in my mind and produce the same sort of reaction in me.
The story of the loaves and fish is so simple…
“Seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?’ This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, ‘Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, ‘There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?’” (John 6:1-15).
There was no food, and there was also a boy with a very very small amount of food. In fact, the boy’s food was so small in quantity that it would have been absurd to even consider using that food at all what could such a small amount of food possibly do to help them? And the same thing applied to my great aunt. What could such a small amount of flour actually do for her? What could a frazzled mother’s prayers provide for her? She was not in a Church. She did not have time for deep reflection – she lived at a time when everything needed to be done by hand. And yet, what she had, she gave.
And what that boy had he gave. And he gave it without wondering if it was silly to offer such a tiny amount in the face of such a staggering need. And Saint Andrew, did not laugh at the offering. He did not discourage the boy and tell him to stop being ridiculous and come back with a better solution. Instead, he took the boy with him to God. He took the offering and the boy himself and he carried him to God to make his offering there.
And it seems to me today I that I need to stop qualifying my offerings and start sharing whatever I have instead. After all God will do the rest – as He has always done!
Mary, my Mother, what great things your Son can do if I am generous like this young lad! And what joy to know that Jesus will help many others if I give Him what He wants!
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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