Dear Brothers and Sisters,

“There is a small boy here with five loaves and two fish, but what use is that among so many?” Presumably, the boy brought the food for himself and his immediate family. The next thing we know is that Jesus has taken those loaves and fish and, after blessing them, begins to distribute them. It is important to note that Jesus did not feed the people with anything. Instead, he started with something already available. What Jesus did was made possible because that little boy was willing to share what he had with others, including the many strangers around him.
 
Some scholars say the “miracle” that took place was that the boy’s generosity resulted in many others generously sharing what each had brought with the strangers around them. It does require a kind of miracle to break through people’s self-centredness and their concern for their own security.
 
In our own time can also see that God gives life through what is already available to us. People are dying of hunger and malnutrition in our world, not because of a lack of food but poor distribution. The food is there; it is the will to share it or produce it that is lacking. Most of you probably know that during the Irish “famine,” Ireland exported food! The locals weren’t allowed to eat it themselves. What they grew in their own soil didn’t belong to them. They were hungry not because of bad farming or because of a “famine” but fundamentally because of injustice.
 
The Eucharist that we are celebrating today is also about giving, loving, and sharing. The Eucharist only works when we consciously celebrate it in this way and when it is genuinely a sign of what is going on in our daily lives. St Paul has some very harsh words for Christians who want to celebrate the Eucharist but refuse to help the needy members of their community.
 
At the Eucharist, the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ, and we can become the living body of Christ if we respond to God’s grace. God can take all our talents, treasures, and energy and use them for others. And this way, we join with Christ as he gives himself to the father and us as we, in turn, give ourselves to Christ and others. We go to mass not to witness a miracle as mere spectators but to experience a miracle, the change in ourselves.

With Love and Blessings,
Fr Damian