Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes was obviously a big deal for the early Church. Each evangelist tells it so we hear the story six times! In Mark’s telling what lies behind the miracle is the compassion of Jesus. “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd.” When we look around in our world today we find our hearts “moved with pity” as well: passing a homeless man on the street, seeing a refugee family struggling to find a place, noticing the lines outside the food pantry, observing someone struggling with mental illness, hearing of the plight of the addicted. It can all seem to be too much for us to deal with. But notice that Jesus starts small, starts with what he has. He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven.” That is the pattern we should adopt — not imagine we can fix everything but with our little bit we can do something — and let God do the multiplying.
