This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
“‘And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many wicker baskets full of fragments you picked up?’ They answered him, ‘Twelve.’ ‘When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many full baskets of fragments did you pick up?’ They answered him, ‘Seven.’ He said to them, ‘Do you still not understand?’ (Mk. 8:18-20)
With these words, Jesus reprimanded the disciples, sometime after the events from today’s gospel. He was cautioning them about the “leaven of the Pharisees,” and they thought He was cross with them for forgetting to bring bread for an outing.
And truly, the events of today should have proven difficult to forget. Philip’s estimate of the cost of feeding the five thousand was two hundred days’ wages. There are about two hundred working days in a year. Philip is talking about a year’s salary.
For any of us who has had to pay for the wedding of one of our daughters, the cost of an average working person’s salary to feed a large crowd is not beyond the scope of imagination.
Jesus fed the multitude with a miraculous multiplication of bread. And yet, the disciples later thought that he was cross with them for forgetting a small meal’s worth. “Do you still not understand?”
In the first reading, the Pharisee Gamaliel, it seemed, had not forgotten. On its face, his logic does not seem foolproof. Whereas he posited that the works of mere mortals disappear quickly, a cursory look at history reminds us that this is not always the case. Consider the millions, for example, cruelly butchered in the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century. True, these regimes are now gone, but not before perpetrating their travesties for many years.
Behind Gamaliel’s reasoning, we glimpse that he is remembering the signs of Jesus–and that he does in fact have an inkling that this Christian movement may be from God.
So why is it so hard for believers, the disciples and us too, to remember the powerful works of Jesus? To recall that the apparently random events in our lives are under the close care of Providence?
After performing miracles in the Gospel, Jesus often credits the faith of the requestor. The truth is, His providential care is only limited by our trust. If we do not abandon ourselves completely to His care, His miraculous Providence in our lives will be limited and modest. But if we truly abandon ourselves, He will weave the most beautiful story of tender and powerful care.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Abandon yourself totally into the powerful hands of Him who effortlessly performed a miracle to feed five thousand. Tell Him you trust Him, and ask Him to increase and protect your trust.
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