The Gospel according to John (6:1-15)
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
Reflection: God always knows what He is going to do. He always has a perfect plan for our lives. In today’s gospel, we read a snippet from the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. Jesus knew He was going to multiply the few loaves and fish they had and feed over five thousand people. But before He did this, He wanted to test Philip. He did just that. Why does Jesus test Philip and why does He test us at times?
It’s not that Jesus is curious about what Philip will say. And it’s not that He is just playing games with Philip. Rather, He is seizing this opportunity to let Philip manifest His faith. So, in fact, this “testing” of Philip was a gift to him because it gave Philip the opportunity to pass the test.
The test was to let Philip act on faith rather than just on human logic alone. Sure, it’s good to be logical. But very often the wisdom of God supersedes human logic. In other words, it brings logic to a whole new level. It brings it to a level where faith in God is brought into the equation.
So Philip, in that moment, was being called to offer a solution given the fact that the Son of God was there with them. And so he fails the test. He points out that two hundred days’ wages would not be enough to feed the crowd. But Andrew somewhat comes to the rescue. Andrew quickly points out that there is a boy who has a few loaves and some fish. Unfortunately he adds, “but what good are these for so many?”
This little spark of faith in Andrew, however, is enough faith for Jesus to have the crowds recline and to perform the miracle of the multiplication of the food. It seems that Andrew at least had a small insight into the fact that these few loaves and fish were important to mention. Jesus takes this from Andrew and takes care of the rest.
So today lets reflect, on the precious gift of even a little faith. So often we find ourselves in difficult situations where we don’t know what to do. We should strive to have at least a little faith so that Jesus has something to work with. No, we may not have the full picture of what He wants to do, but we should at least have a small inkling of the direction God is leading.
Action of the Day: Today Lord, help me to remember what Divine Mercy Sunday was all about. Remembering the saying “Jesus I trust in You”.
Audio Reflection:
