＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Acts 5:34-42

 

Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14

One thing I seek; to dwell in the house of the Lord.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

John 6:1-15

 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee,

Near Tiberias, and large crowds followed him because of the miraculous signs they saw when he healed the sick. So he went up into the hills and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

 Then lifting up his eyes, Jesus saw the crowds that were coming to him and said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread so that these people may eat?” He said this to test Philip, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred silver coins would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a piece.”

 Then one of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?”  Jesus said, “Make the peo­ple sit down.”

There was plenty of grass there so the people, about five thousand men, sat down to rest. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks and distributed them to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish and gave them as much as they wanted. 

And when they had eaten enough, he told his disciples, “Gather up the pieces left over, that nothing may be lost.”  So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with bread, that is with pieces of the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.  

When the people saw this sign that Jesus had just given, they said, “This is really the Prophet, he who is to come into the world.” Jesus realized that they would come and take him by force to make him king; so he fled to the hills by himself.

 

Gospel Reflection：

This gospel demonstrates the power and importance of the little things. Jesus is worried that the people has nothing to eat. His disciples are overwhelmed by the logistical nightmare of feeding the multitude in an out of the way place.

But Jesus will have none of it. He insisted. The disciples could only produce a meager five barley loaves and two fishes from a little boy. A little offering from a little offeror. Yet the Lord multiplied what is otherwise an insignificant amount of food.

For the little we have if heartily offered to the Lord becomes enough for the needs of those in want.