This past week, a crowd of 50 thousand Catholics attended the Eucharistic Renewal Conference in Indianapolis. Appropriately, the Sunday’s gospel gave us a special “take” on Eucharist that tends to get obscured when hearing the institution narrative at each Mass (i.e., “Jesus took the bread, blest it . . . saying ‘Take this’” and “He took the chalice . . .”). John’s gospel has no such “last supper” scene. But John’s gospel this weekend is just as solidly Eucharistic as the other accounts.
Instead of the Last Supper’s ritual context, John gives us the story of 5000 hungry men gathered on a hill at the time of Passover. John’s account echoes the first reading that told of how 20 men were miraculously fed when it seemed there wasn’t enough food to go around. John’s crowd, however, was much larger—and Jesus saw to it that they were fed.
While we’re accustomed to hearing the words of consecration at Mass, this scene from John’s Gospel reminds us that the Eucharist is intended to feed us outside liturgical contexts as well. We can gather anywhere and confess that we need to rely on nourishment that can come to us in social interaction (as when the crowd of 5 thousand experienced Him in a secular gathering).
Did you notice where this event took place? Our old friend, the mountain once again signaled to us that something special was to take place! God was about to make an appearance in some miraculous way. John’s account no doubt reminded people of what we read in 2 Kings when others were miraculously fed. Only this time, the crowd was much larger—and Jesus eclipsed the Old Testament’s wondrous event.
John didn’t need to report the Eucharist’s institution narrative that told how and when Jesus gave us the sacrament (i.e., “On the night before he died, he took bread . . . “). John didn’t need to repeat what the other evangelists said because he referred to people “reclining” (a clear association with the early Christian custom of “reclining” at their Eucharistic gatherings).
Just as the Last Supper accounts are associated with the season of Passover, so John states that the feeding of the multitude took place during Passover! He is reporting the same reality, but it is taking place outdoors—not restricted to apostles only, but in the midst of 5000 men. In this instance, the Eucharistic assembly is on a mountainside. It draws people together where they are fed by the Master. The same theological idea is thus presented to us in two different ways.
Some might not like hearing scripture note that “men” were gathered, and that no reference is made to the presence of women. Not referring to women is not translated in a broader way because the first century reality of gatherings would see men alone gather in numbers this large. Mixing of the sexes did not occur in Israelite tribal society. This tribal custom of men in one place and women in another was not unique to New Testament times.
Cultures globally have all sorts of behavioral rules about men and women mixing or not mixing in public or private. For example, many groups have women’s quarters and men’s quarters—husbands and wives NOT bedding down together as is the custom in our American world.
I was reminded of teaching at Pine Ridge. We’d have a high school dance, and girls would sit along the wall on one side of the gym and guys on the other side. It’s just the way social life occurred—people dancing in the center if they wished to do so, and a few boys/girls talking—but a division quite visible.
A boy in the crowd is said to have carried with him a couple of fish. This reference to fish is not just some arbitrary food that could have just as well been hot dogs (had they existed back then). Rather, the Greek word for fish is “icthus” and that word was an acronym for early Christians. Namely, “fish” (in Greek letters) stood for “Jesus Christ Son of God Savior.” So the story about feeding an enormous population (the world?) with bread and fish is a lesson in Eucharistic theology. The bread and fish (preserved in wine) symbolize the presence of the risen Lord in the breaking of bread Christian sacrament. And the Eucharist is for Christians a new Passover meal, a new Moses saving the people, and a new Lamb of God. If all this didn’t ring a bell for you, maybe you noticed how the story says that Jesus “took the bread, broke it, and passed it to all present.” Sound familiar? You hear those words at every Mass.
Hmm. What more might be found in these verses? Aha! 12 wicker baskets of bread fragments were left over. Might that conjure up thoughts of the 12 tribes of Israel being fed by this Messiah? And not only them, but others, too—since so much was left over. Even enough to feed 12 new apostles perhaps? You get the point. This story is more than just a miraculous picnic meal in a mountain meadow.
On a nuts and bolts level, one need not connect all the dots of the above when they might simply benefit from this often told lesson. Perhaps the presence of Jesus and the apostles was enough to inspire the boy, and others, to pull out what they carried with them—and share their food with others. After all, the point of the Eucharist is for us to share our time, talent, and treasure with others. Perhaps that’s the incident’s key message.
Or might the story’s point be addressing an aspect of our lives that raised its head in the time of Jesus, and in our own time. That is, last week reminded us of the compassion Jesus felt toward those who were “like sheep without a shepherd.” And this week, he again has pity on the people and wants to feed them.
The more we read about how Jesus dealt with people, the more we can detect His type of speech if it is uttered by politicians or spoken in the workplace. We can hear someone make a speech or talk to someone—and right away be detect if the person is speaking as Jesus would have spoken. We know if someone speaks in the same tone of voice, and if the content of what they say echoes the Master.
The story about loaves and fishes feeding 5000 does NOT report Jesus saying to the crowd: “You should have planned ahead. Don’t come begging from me.” And we don’t hear him say “God helps those who help themselves.” Scripture can both teach us how to communicate with others and also WARN US not to be seduced by voices that do not sound like something Jesus would say.
I don’t know what ground was covered in this past week’s Eucharistic Congress, but the topic brought to mind something that Mother Theresa had hanging in her room. This is what it said:
“A Holy Hour before the Eucharist is important only if it leads us to a “holy hour” with those in need or those who will never be a human success. Our Eucharist is incomplete if it does not make us respect and serve the poor and anyone in need. In receiving the communion of the poor, we discover our own poverty.” As the spiritual writer, Louis Evely, wrote: “That man is you.”