“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” (John 6:9.)
In commenting on this verse from today’s Gospel, Saint Romanus the Melodist writes:
“Master, we can find only five barley loaves;
No one of us brought anything into the desert,
But a child is here who has them.
O Lover of man, no other resource is possible for us.
For an enormous and boundless number of people,
O Man of pity,
How can these five loaves be sufficient?
In addition, he has two fishes.
But hurry and nourish them, since Thou art
The heavenly bread of immortality.”
When Christ heard these words of His disciples,
He answered them in this way:
“You are mistaken if you do not know
That I am the Creator of the universe;
I provide for the world;
I now know clearly what these people need;
I see the desert and that the sun is setting;
Indeed I arranged the setting of the sun;
I understand the distress of the crowd which is here;
I know what I have in mind to do for them.
I myself shall cure their hunger, for I am
The heavenly bread of immortality.
“Even though you consider carefully,
can you as mere men secure nourishment,
Or can you, though you are worried, feed the people?
Or, then, if you cannot feed them, have you the power to keep silent?
I, alone, as Creator take thought for all.
I exist as good, God before the centuries.
And I provide every kind of food for all people;
But you, on beholding the multitude, are worried,
And you do not consider the One who provides abundantly,
As I am set before all, offering
The heavenly bread of immortality.
“I know in advance what you are thinking
and what you are saying to each other,
As you see the people, the means of provision, and the hour.
You are reasoning, ‘Who will feed the entire crowd in the desert?’
Well, know clearly, friends, who I am.
I fed Israel in the desert;
I gave them bread from Heaven;
In a region without water,
I made water to flow from a rock;
Since I am the heavenly bread of immortality.”
No one of us brought anything into the desert,
But a child is here who has them.
O Lover of man, no other resource is possible for us.
For an enormous and boundless number of people,
O Man of pity,
How can these five loaves be sufficient?
In addition, he has two fishes.
But hurry and nourish them, since Thou art
The heavenly bread of immortality.”
When Christ heard these words of His disciples,
He answered them in this way:
“You are mistaken if you do not know
That I am the Creator of the universe;
I provide for the world;
I now know clearly what these people need;
I see the desert and that the sun is setting;
Indeed I arranged the setting of the sun;
I understand the distress of the crowd which is here;
I know what I have in mind to do for them.
I myself shall cure their hunger, for I am
The heavenly bread of immortality.
“Even though you consider carefully,
can you as mere men secure nourishment,
Or can you, though you are worried, feed the people?
Or, then, if you cannot feed them, have you the power to keep silent?
I, alone, as Creator take thought for all.
I exist as good, God before the centuries.
And I provide every kind of food for all people;
But you, on beholding the multitude, are worried,
And you do not consider the One who provides abundantly,
As I am set before all, offering
The heavenly bread of immortality.
“I know in advance what you are thinking
and what you are saying to each other,
As you see the people, the means of provision, and the hour.
You are reasoning, ‘Who will feed the entire crowd in the desert?’
Well, know clearly, friends, who I am.
I fed Israel in the desert;
I gave them bread from Heaven;
In a region without water,
I made water to flow from a rock;
Since I am the heavenly bread of immortality.”
(Kontakion on the Multiplication of Loaves, 13.)
Collect
O God,
protector of those who hope in You,
without whom nothing has firm foundation,
nothing is holy,
bestow in abundance Your mercy upon us
and grant that, with You as our ruler and guide,
we may use the good things
that pass in such a way
as to hold fast even now
to those that ever endure.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
protector of those who hope in You,
without whom nothing has firm foundation,
nothing is holy,
bestow in abundance Your mercy upon us
and grant that, with You as our ruler and guide,
we may use the good things
that pass in such a way
as to hold fast even now
to those that ever endure.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
