From the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to John: “Jesus
then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to
those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.”
The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle
recorded by all four of the Gospels. This
sign, this miracle, is considered as central within the kerygma, for it has
always been understood as prefiguring the Holy Eucharist: the miracle of the
multiplication of loaves and fish as pointing to the miraculous reality of the
true bread of heaven who is Jesus Christ given to the Church as his Real
Presence among us until the end of time.
And in this way this gospel has always been associated with the Fourth
Sunday in Lent, Laetare Sunday with its introit: “Rejoice O Jerusalem”, pointing to the Easter
Sacrament by which the people are fed with the true Bread of Life.
But we must also remember that this miracle begins the sixth
chapter of the Gospel of John, the great discourse on the Eucharist, whose
climax is Jesus’ words: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if
anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall
give for the life of the world is my flesh”.
It is those words that cause a number of Jesus’ followers to leave him.
It is those words that anger the scribes and the Pharisees. It is those words that help set off those
events that lead to the Cross. It is
those words that lie at the heart of the Church’s understanding of and faith in
the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
When the people who were fed by the miracle of the loaves
and fishes were looking for Jesus later, he had no illusions about what they
were looking for. He said to them: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not
because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” I love the clarity of this. The people were seeking him to see what he
could give them next. The miracle as a
sign is a two edged sword; it proves nothing in the end. Taken at face value it may be part of a
mysterious magic show instead of the sign that points to a deeper reality And we can imagine the people reacting like
the townspeople in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Carousel
singing:
This was a real nice clambake,
We're mighty
glad we came.
The vittles we et were good, you
bet!
The company was the same!
Our hearts are warm, our bellies
are full,
And we are feelin' prime.
This was a real nice clambake,
And
we all he'd a real good time!
One must never
underestimate the self-centeredness of man.
How our Lord understood this!
When the people asked for more signs, he said to them: “An evil and adulterous generation demands a
sign, and no sign shall be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet”. And at the end of the parable of Dives and
Lazarus: “‘If they
do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one
should rise from the dead.’”
It was not that
long ago that I did not know what a selfie was.
I used to hear my students using this term, and so one day I asked them
what this word meant. They looked at me
in astonishment and explained what a selfie is.
Then I discovered that the Metropolitan Museum of Art had banned selfie
sticks, these devices that enable you to take a picture of yourself in front of
a painting or some work of art. My
selfie education was complete when I read that this generation is the selfie
generation, marked by a narcissism that borders on psychopathy. Our hearts are warm, our bellies are
full. Take a selfie to capture our
purring self-contentment.
And this reminded
me of a story that someone once told me.
Whether it is true or not, I do not know. But it actually happened before selfies were
possible, but my education in selfies somehow jogged my memory, and I realized
that the selfie attitude was nothing really new. There was a parish church that decided to do
some renovations. The place looked tired
and boring: nondescript altar, molded
plastic crucifix hanging over it, industrial carpeting in the sanctuary. The parish had a lot of money so they could
do whatever they wanted. So they hired a
famous architect-designer to do the renovations. This architect asked them what they
wanted. The renovation committee
responded that they wanted something that would express who they were as
people. No talk of Baroque or Gothic
revival or Romanesque or Bauhaus. No interest in style. We trust you, they said. Just give us something spectacular that will
define who we are as a parish community.
So the renovation proceeded. It
was all very secret. They had to have
Mass in the downstairs church for a while.
Then the day came for
the unveiling. There was great
excitement as the people gathered in the main church for the unveiling before
the Mass. There was this very large red
curtain extending along the whole section behind the altar. The architect spoke briefly and then
proceeded to slowly pull back the curtain from the center. And as he did so, there was a gasp from the
congregation. At first they saw that
there was no crucifix. It was gone. More
and more came into view, and when all could be seen the people burst into wild
applause. For what the architect had put
behind the altar was a giant mirror in which the people could see themselves
from every possible angle. They could stare
at themselves throughout the Mass and focus on themselves in a way that up to
now would not have been possible. O
frabjous day, calloo, callay! But the only unhappy person was the priest. He said to the architect: but my back will be to the mirror since I say
Mass looking at the people! Could I ask
you for a little addition to the renovation?
Of course, said the architect.
Could you make a little mirror for me to set on the altar so that I can
look at myself while I say Mass? And
could you put it in a little gold baroque frame
