The Boy With the Fish

 


"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?"
                                                  John 6:9  

         
  Aside from the Resurrection, the feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle recounted in all four gospels. It is interesting to me that it is about feeding the hungry. Generally in this story and its commentary (such as the homily at today's Mass) the focus is on the apostles and their relative faith or lack of it, on their questioning. It struck me this morning that my position is more like the boy with the fish.

He didn't understand the big picture
He knew he couldn't solve the problem of 5,000 hungry people
He knew he couldn't fix the world around him
He wasn't an apostle or any sort of important official
BUT
He didn't sit quietly feeling helpless
He didn't ask questions
He did the good he could
He generously offered what little he had

From that Jesus, who is the person whose job it is to save the world, fed the multitude while the apostles did the big job of distributing. And the boy? I suspect he sat quietly while it happened,

In the great Theo-drama of salvation history past, present, and future, my role is tiny, but He expects me to do the good I can in the place where He has put me, for the people He has sent, with the gifts He has given me.

It's pretty simple in the end.

Comments

Unknown said…
Amen! Thank you for this! Meg
3:44 PM
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