Five Loaves and Two Fish

The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men. Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray. Mark 6:30-46

We often see the limitations of our capacity before we see the possibilities of God. We can get so worried about the bottom line and budgets, that we forget to ask for miracles and to pray. Everything in our world is based on money, and folks are separated by the haves and have not. Jesus was always among those in need. And he always fulfilled their need. The disciples assessed the situation rightly, yet Jesus invited them to a larger, more compassionate way of living. This week we passed by the church where my mother fed 40-60 children weekly. There was always enough to send children home with leftovers for the rest of the family. God 's love is abundant and there is always extra leftover for those who were left behind.

Creator of Abundance, holy provider

we are blessed by each new day with love

you find us in our humility and our poverty

and provide great bounty for those on the margins.

We fear our lack and we worry about the future

you hold our lives tenderly in your hands

we worry that you will not have enough for us

yet you made sure there was always leftovers.

Help us to be grateful for the blessings here

help us to trust that you will somehow provide

turn our hearts to the needs of those around us

and help us to share the abundance of your love. Amen.