During Lent, the children and young people of All Saints Parish are learning how they can respond to the problem of hunger, in their community and beyond. They will be reflecting on this story during class on March 18 (Lent 4):
Jesus feeds a large crowd
(From the Gospel of Mark, chapter 6, verses 30 - 44)
Jesus spent a lot of time going from place to place telling people about God and about God's love for them. Most of the time he traveled on foot, but one day, Jesus and his friends took a boat ride to get to a new place. Word spread that he was on his way, and by the time he arrived, 5000 men and their families were waiting to greet him!
5000 families is a very big crowd!
All these men, women, and children who were gathered together seemed like a large flock of sheep that needed a shepherd to take care of them. So Jesus sat down with them and spent the entire day teaching them about God, listening to their questions and ideas, and praying with them.
The day drew to a close. The sun began to set. Jesus' friends, the disciples, came to him and said, "It's getting late and we're all tired and hungry. Tell everyone to go home for supper."
But Jesus looked at his friends and said, "You give them something to eat."
The disciples couldn't believe what he had just said. "How do you expect us to feed all these people? We don't have enough money to buy bread for everyone!"
But Jesus wasn't interested in their excuses. "How much food do you have? Go and see."
The disciples took stock of what they had on hand. They came back to Jesus holding five small loaves of bread and two dried fish. "This is what we've got," they told him.
"This will do," he said, taking it from them. "Now go tell everyone to sit down so that we can eat together. Tell them to sit in small groups."
The disciples went into the crowd. They had to trust that Jesus knew what he was doing. "It's time to eat," they told the people. "Please find some friends and sit down on the grass together. Jesus wants to feed us!"
The people did what they were told. They sat down in small groups. As they waited for Jesus to feed them, the men and women chatted and got to know each other. The children played together. And soon they discovered all sorts of things that they had in common with one another.
When everyone was seated, Jesus took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. Looking up to heaven, he asked God to bless the food. Then he divided it up among his 12 friends and told them, "Go. Take this to everyone who is hungry."
The disciples set to work passing out the food. There were a lot of people and they were all hungry.
Something amazing happened that day. Not only did everyone get enough to eat - all 5000 families - but when the disciples began to clean up after the meal, each of them filled a basket with leftover food! They had thought that there wouldn't be enough food to go around - but it had turned out that, with Jesus' help, there was plenty for everyone.
Questions to ponder:
I wonder if you have ever been in a place where a large crowd of people was gathered.
I wonder if you have ever worried that there wouldn't be enough to eat.
I wonder if you have ever eaten bread that God has blessed. I wonder what that was like for you.
I wonder if you know the Good Shepherd.
I wonder how the Good Shepherd takes care of you.