John 6:1-15 – Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
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 large 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.
After our return…I experienced a true longing to be back there – or at least to make some sort of difference that would honor the changes that had come over me since Dandora. Being a part of our Liturgy Advisory Committee in my home parish, one small thing that I did was offer to speak at our “LAC Day Away” – telling a bit about the trip from a liturgical perspective and then challenging the group to consider what we might do to make our liturgies as amazing as those in Dandora.
The questions that helped guide the planning for our liturgical year at Holy Family, is what remains firm; committed in my heart to live out the joy of our Kenyan brothers and sisters. They taught me so much. We live in our own kind of poverty, challenges and crime. What vision can we define for our parish today?
· Does our parish offer sanctuary?
· Do we enjoy a fellowship that sustains us?
· Do we sense the awesome presence of God during our Liturgies?
· Do we experience “giving” during the Offertory?
· Do the Prayers of the Faithful seem personal to us?
· Do we take what we are “doing” at Mass seriously?
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