They all ate and were satisfied.

"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." (John 6: 5 - 6).

Sunday, 25th July 2021, in the 17th Week in Ordinary Time.

The miracles in the first Reading from 2 Kings 4 and the Gospel of John 6 foreshadow the Eucharist. From creation, God opened His hand and fed all living things generously from His bounty. Our Responsorial Psalm 145 puts it beautifully: "The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs."

There is something different in what happens today with the feeding of the 5000 people.

Providentially in this deserted place, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?”

What Jesus did next reminds us of the Eucharist.
"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.”

It was not Moses who fed the multitude in the desert with manna. It was God the Father who fed the people as a prefiguration of the Eucharist, the Bread of life.

"If the reality of heaven has become vague and far from the thoughts of so many in My Church, it is because they have forsaken the very mystery of heaven already present and given to them in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. The Eucharist is heaven on earth; the Eucharist is My Church on earth already assumed into heaven. Heaven is wheresoever the words of consecration have been pronounced over the bread and wine in the holy oblation, for there I am present, even as I am present in the glory of My Ascension, adored by the angels, praised by all the saints, held in the divine gaze of My Father, and burning with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. Believe this and you will find heaven on earth, while waiting and hoping to see My Face in glory." (IN SINU JESU page 250).

Daily Bible Verse @ Seekfirstcommunity.com