Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. The Gospel presents the episode of the miracle of the loaves (Luke 9:11-17), which takes place on the shore of the lake of Galilee.
The first verse of today’s passage begins by saying, “Jesus welcomed the crowds and began to speak to them….” The reference to the celebration of the Eucharist is evident here: the liturgy of the Lord’s Day always begins with the gesture of the celebrant welcoming the community, wishing peace, and announcing the kingdom of God.
In verse 12, the time at which Jesus distributes his bread is emphasised: “The day was beginning to decline.” We find a similar indication of time in the account of the disciples of Emmaus. “Stay with us,” the two say to their companion on the journey, “for evening is coming and the day is waning” (Luke 24:29). Luke is perhaps indicating the time when, on Saturday evening, Holy Communion was celebrated in his communities.
The desert place (v.12) also has a theological significance: it recalls the journey of the people of Israel who made their way through the desert and were fed with manna. The Christian community today is making a similar exodus. They dared to leave their homes, villages, friends, and the kind of life they led, and they set out to listen to the Master. Like Israel, they entered the desert and set out for freedom. Others—who also heard the voice of the Lord—preferred to remain where they were, not wanting to take risks.
Faced with a vast multitude who would need food and lodging, the disciples suggested the Master to send the people back home to solve their own problems. But, Jesus orders the twelve to feed the crowds (vv. 12-14). He wants them to realise that their mission is to care for people’s hunger.
His Word is a bread that multiplies miraculously: those who accept the Gospel and feed their lives trigger an unstoppable process of sharing, and the twelve baskets of remains are always packed and ready to begin the distribution again.
At the time of Luke, fifty was perhaps the ideal number of members of a community. In the early centuries, the Eucharist was not celebrated in churches but in houses (Acts 2:46), so the number of participants was necessarily limited. One of the reasons for the laziness, coldness, and lack of initiative of some of today’s communities may depend precisely on the large number of participants!
The formula used to describe the multiplication of the loaves is well known to us: “He took the loaves (and the fish) and, raising his eyes to heaven, he blessed them, broke them and gave them…” (v. 16). These are the celebrant’s gestures in the Eucharist celebration.
For Your Reflection
People who are nurtured by the Word of God and the Eucharistic Bread will ensure that their neighbours do not go hungry. Thus the miracle of feeding the hungry stomachs is continued today.
Father Fernando
Armellini SCJ
