FRIDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER
Today's Gospel from John gives us an account of the feeding of the multitude. Five loaves and two fish feed 5,000 people. The story of the multiplication of loaves and fishes is so significant that it the only miracle that appears in all four Gospels. Let me say that again, the Lord taking bread and giving it to the people following Him is the only miracle that all four evangelists write about in the Gospels. All. Of. Them.
Imagine yourself in one of the four accounts of this story. You've been following the Lord; you are among thousands of other followers. You are tired. You are hungry. You are hoping that this man they call Jesus is who they say He is, you are hoping that He is the Savior. Then He presents this small amount of food and tells all of us to eat as much as we want. Maybe you are the doubter, you are looking around and thinking how can this be? Perhaps you are just too tired and hungry to question. In the end, even the doubter's come to believe.
For Catholics, the significance of this story is Jesus showing us only He can give us the true food of everlasting life, His body, blood, soul, and divinity present in the Eucharist. Jesus is the only one that will satisfy the hunger we have in our lives. We can try to fill that emptiness in our lives with things and people, but until we turn to the Lord to fulfill us, the void will remain.