“WHERE can we buy enough food for them to eat?,” Jesus asked Philip, one the disciples, as he saw a vast crowd of about five thousand in number following them.
“Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little,” Philip replied.
“There is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good are these for many,” Andrew, another disciple, remarked.
Jesus, however, had the people recline on the grass, and before the disciple and all the people, he multiplied the five loaves and two fish to feed the five thousand people.
What an amazing miracle of Jesus, perhaps, an impossible one for the disciples to happen!
For Jesus, it was more than a miracle; it was a vision and a dream he wanted for people of all generations. His vision was that all people would be fed, not just with material bread, but also with spiritual bread: Himself, the Bread of Life.
His vision is fulfilled whenever we, Catholics, celebrate the Mass in which Jesus gives himself totally to us in Word and Sacrament.
The Mass is more than a proclamation of God’s Word but the most intimate and profoundest dwelling into the Person of Jesus, into the Paschal Mystery of his life, death, and resurrection. It is a close encounter with Jesus and an experience of the absolute mercy and love of God.
Only those of us, Catholics, who have felt this dynamic reality and grace in the celebration of the Mass, can attest to this powerful transformation. Personally, as an ordained priest who has said Mass for twenty-one years, I can testify to this experience of heavenly banquet.
Hence, I feel sad when I hear of Catholics not attending Mass or going to other non-Catholic services.
A few days ago, I met a previous Catholic woman who turned Pentecostal. She was telling me about the Bible classes that her church offers to the congregation and her joy in attending them. As I listened to her, I appreciated that she found a Christian community that has satisfied her hunger for God’s Word, but I also felt that she is missing the transformational and profound experience of being fed with the Person of Jesus, not only in the Sacrament of the Word but also in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
For us, Catholics, the Eucharist is the lifeblood of our relationship with God. Jesus left us this gift in remembrance of Him. It’s the most intimate way by which we can communicate with him, not only as individuals but also as a people.
It’s enthralling to think that Jesus fed the vast crows of people in the Gospel this Sunday, not just as individual men and women but also as a people. In the Eucharist, we gather as a crowd of people, connected in love, faith, and common desire for something or someone that will completely satisfy our hunger for joy, peace, and meaning.
May many more people experience the life-changing grace of the Sacrament of the Eucharist! Amen.
* * *
Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas attended St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California and earned his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. For twenty years, he has been in the parish ministry of large multi-cultural communities. Since 2002, he has been the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles. Please email Fr. Rodel at [email protected].
