Today we look at one of the most iconic moments in the Gospel. We generally call it “the multiplication of the loaves”. The whole event is centered in the first verse that we just heard: his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd. Everything that happened that day started in the heart and compassion of the Good Shepard. John reminds us in the first reading that it is God who loved us first when we did not deserve any love. This love is put into action by Jesus’ presence among us. He is the manifestation of God’s love. That is what the Epiphany means – God’s love manifest in our lives.
Jesus’ compassion for the people with no shepherd leads him first to teach. Announcing and explaining the Word of God is that first important step in the evangelization process. We tend to skip over this step and dedicate ourselves as a Christian family or faith community to some sort of other action, like prayer, popular piety, liturgy, social service, or justice work. All those actions are important, but our first responsibility is to announce the love of God, that is faith formation in the family and in our local faith community. The crowd had to develop a rapport with the Shepard to have an attitude of open listening and a disposition to change. Our modern culture does not lead us to an attitude of listening because we believe we already know what we want. Our culture also enshrines independence to such an extent that we are often deaf to other opinions and even more so to doctrine. You’re not the boss of me! You can’t tell me what to do! The word catechesis means echo. Catechesis is the process of teaching and being taught (learning) – repeating the tradition in our own lives. The manifestation of Jesus’ compassion for the crowd begins with teaching, catechesis, evangelization. Jesus feeds them first with the Word of God. That is our first responsibility within our Catholic families and local community of faith.
Then in the late afternoon the disciples began to worry about how to feed the vast crowd. They seem to be despairing. The text provides us with a whole list of concerns: the number of people, the lack of economic resources, the lack of food, the time of day, and the distance to the nearest markets or stores. Their rational response was to send the people away. Sending them away was their only counsel. Human despair and the lack of hope tend to lead us to dismiss others and their needs. We become closed, cold, and hard. We lose our humanity, our relationships with each other, and our relationship with God.
Yet Jesus is the compassionate shepherd, the manifestation of God’s love for us. When we turn over to him all our fears, despair, hard-heartedness and selfishness, he can produce new life. That afternoon Jesus produced life where none existed. This is the second part of evangelization: action. Action rooted in a deep confidence and hope in the presence of God.
The multiplication of the loaves was an epiphany for the crowd. Jesus is the revelation of
God’s compassionate heart teaching us and caring for us. It is important of us as Catholic families and a local faith community to live teaching other and caring for others.
They all ate and were satisfied.
And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments
and what was left of the fish.
Image: CANVA 29DEC25 AI generated.