By Fr. Marcel Uzoigwe, CSSp | 2Kg.4:42-44, Ps.144, Eph.4:1-6 & Jn.6:1-15
Dear friends in Christ,
The miracles of the multiplication of loaves demonstrate the generosity of God whose compassion always moves him to take extraordinary measures to respond to human needs. The events narrated in both the first reading and the Gospel call our attention to the important virtue of generosity knowing that all we have and are come from God for a purpose, and that nothing we hoard for ourselves here will benefit us hereafter. Both narratives follow similar patterns loaded with lessons for a better Christian living.
Generosity is a virtue that springs from the ability to feel the need of the other. Experience shows that the ability to feel compassionate and render help is connected with one’s sense of thankfulness rather than one’s level of wealth. Various experiments have shown that the poor render lots of help and are more willing to share the little they have than those that have more. Wealth, sometimes, brings with it a sense of separation from others, just as Jesus indicated in the story of Lazarus and the rich man (cf. Luke 16:19-31).
In today’s narratives, Elisha was faced with three hundred men who had nothing to eat until a man came from Baalshalishah bringing him twenty barley loaves made from the first fruits. This man is nameless, indicating that his status in society is not important. Elisha asked him to give it to the men to eat. His servant reacted that twenty loaves of bread cannot feed three hundred hungry men, and he was right from a mathematical point of view. Jesus had even a more difficult riddle to solve. He had five thousand hungry people coming to him, having seen the miracles he worked. Neither Jesus nor his disciples had any bread, but Andrew spotted a boy with five barley loaves and two fish. This boy too is nameless. You can make the calculation yourself. And that is what Andrew did and informed Jesus that five loaves of bread and two fish were too small to feed the people. It is important to note here that the issue is more than just the problem of hunger and the crowd, but the attitude displayed towards the problem. Problems are triggers that help to discover and define who we truly are. How we feel about the problems of others and what effort we make in providing solutions within our capabilities are the actual definition of our level of concern and commitment.
There are three lessons we can learn at this point before proceeding. The first is that both Elisha and Jesus were driven by compassion for the hungry people rather than performing the miracle for its sake. Jesus is not always in the business of multiplying bread for its sake. Otherwise, he would have multiplied bread for his hungry disciples when they were plucking ears of corn on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1), and would not send them to buy food while he talked with the woman at the well (John 4: 31-33). He did not even do as much as turn the stone into bread when he was hungry after fasting in the desert at the beginning of his ministry (Matthew 4:1-4).
The second lesson is that both the man from Baalshalishah who brought the twenty loaves of bread to Elisha and the little boy who allowed Jesus to use his five barley loaves and two fish were generous. Their generosity became multiplied and touched the lives of people in such a way that they could never have been able to do themselves. Generosity springs from the love that we bear for others, and is at the heart of the Christian message. God created humans out of his generosity. He was not under any compulsion to share his divine life with us. He also redeemed us in Christ out of his generosity. It is important to understand that generosity unites us to the heart of God who loves all humanity and to whom all belong. The story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37) and Jesus’ discussion on the Last Judgement (Matthew 25: 40-45) show that God is moved by what we do to others, and considers it as something done to him. Moreover, whatever we offer to God, he transforms it and gives us something that is even better. In the Eucharist, we offer up bread and wine, and God turns them into the body and blood of Jesus for our spiritual benefits.
The third lesson is that both servants (servant of Elisha and Andrew the disciple of Jesus) were led by sight while Elisha acted from faith and Jesus revealed his divine nature. . Faith is described as “realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). By the logic of faith, Elisha ordered that the people be fed with a few barley loaves; by the logic of sight, his servant objected. This was also the case between Jesus and Andrew. In both cases, men of sight saw only the evidence available to the senses, while men of faith saw beyond sight to the evidence of things not seen.
The man of sight is limited to the circumstance around him, while the man of faith already lives (analogously) in the eschatological realization. Faith makes that which sight places in the distant future to be present. Hence, faith is the realization of what is hoped for. On this basis, Elisha declared: “Thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and there shall be some leftover.’ And when Jesus gave thanks over the five loaves of bread and two fish, the people ate and there were twelve baskets left over.
The readings, therefore, present us with a very important subject for reflection. How we consider ourselves in relation to the things around us and the gifts we have is an indication of how connected we are with God. It is not just the gift of loaves of bread that marks out the men in the reading, but the circumstances and the actions they took define their level of generosity. The man from Baalshalishah gave the very first fruit of his harvest to the prophet. He did not reserve it for himself. It is common to give out the things we do not need, like the clothes our children have outgrown or those things that constitute obstacles in our homes just to create space. When we do that, the implication is that we act like men of sight rather than men of faith and therefore do not see Jesus in the receiver but consider him or her as less than us. But in giving out the very thing we actually need, the things we consider valuable, knowing that it is for God’s sake that we give, we consider the receiver as the image of God, just like us. That is where the words of Jesus come to life, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me” (Matthew 25:40).
Sharing our talents and time in ways that lift up others and create a better life and opportunities for people is a greater form of generosity. But more importantly, sharing the faith we have received, being the presence of Christ among the people around us is the highest form of generosity. Notice the actions of Elisha and Jesus, the depth of their concern, and generous hearts towards the people. Besides, Jesus did not only feed the people with bread. What he taught them was far more than the material benefits that bread can bring. We need, therefore, to be creative with our generosity, even to the point of engaging in spiritual generosity with our prayers, motivation, good examples, and guidance.
Genuine generosity seeks primarily the interest of the receiver. That can be seen in the action of Jesus who escaped when the people wanted to take him by force and make him their king. He did not feed them so that they would become his subjects or servants. Preserving the human dignity of our dependents is a Christian obligation. We all have received something we can share in one way or the other. Realizing that God is the source of all we have can help us to allow ourselves to become channels of God’s generosity in the world. Paul reminds us that we are one family in the call we have received. One sign of a loving family is the generosity to share with every member of the household. In this way, the family preserves its unity.
May we appreciate the gifts we have received, and learn to share with others thereby becoming the channels of God’s blessings in the world.