What good are five loaves and two fishes?

During Ordinary Time, each Sunday’s Gospel is connected to the one before and the one after, but we often miss the possible flows between them because of the week-long gap that separates the readings. The last three Sundays (the 15th, 16th, and 17th of Ordinary Time), we have been listening to Jesus unveil the kingdom of God through parables—what we might call his “Mighty Words.” Beginning today, we are in the front row for action—his “Mighty Works.” (And on Sunday X, the mightiest work of all will be foreshadowed. I won’t spoil it, pero abangan!)

One thread running through these weeks is this: You can believe the Mighty Words because of the Mighty Works that follow. But another possible thread is: The Mighty Works enflesh the Mighty Words.

Last week, after teaching them about the parables, Jesus asked his disciples, “Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” But if you ask me, they had only scratched the surface.

This week (see Matthew 14:13-21), faced with a multitude to feed, the disciples worry because they have only five loaves and two fish. What good are these for five thousand men, not counting the women and children? Had they forgotten about the tiny mustard seed that grows into the largest of plants and shelters the birds of the sky? Or the bit of yeast that permeates the dough and makes it rise to feed the whole town? (Remember this piece.)

Have you ever felt like a gigantic task was before you and you only had five loaves and two fish? If you are ever discouraged by the little you think you have, remember the mustard seed, the yeast, and the God at your side who can take your five loaves and two fish, bless them, and more than satisfy the vast crowd. So what can five loaves and two fish do? They can open the door to a miracle.

But when exactly did the people realize a miracle had happened? Perhaps some started noticing something as the food was being distributed. Perhaps some began to wonder as they were eating and slowly getting full. But surely, the miracle was undeniable when the fragments, the leftovers, were gathered and filled twelve wicker baskets.

The Greek word translated as “fragments” in our Gospel today is klasmat?n, which refers to small broken pieces, the tira-tira. If the setting of our story were a Filipino feast, ito ang mga mumô ng kanin, the particles of rice you would scrape off your plate and into the garbage bin. What can the small and broken do? They can open our eyes to a miracle.

Have you ever felt small and broken? Our Mighty Host desires even the scattered parts of you that might just be thrown away. Mula sa mga mumô ng kanin, makapaghahain pa siya ng sinangag.

But the leftovers must first be gathered. Sadly, this is something many of us fail to do—either because we forget or we frown upon what seems inconsequential.

Sayang. Sayang naman kung itatapon. What a waste. What we do not gather is wasted.

But in God’s kingdom, nothing is wasted. Walang sayang—from the small things we contribute to the broken fragments of ourselves. Leonard Cohen sings about this in “Anthem” and even takes it an octave higher:

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in.

Your prayer assignments this week:

At the close of each day, pause. Settle yourself down with the mantra, “Walang sayang.” Recall the seemingly inconsequential moments of the day: brief encounters and throwaway moments. Gather even the failures and the times you fell short. Imagine yourself placing them gently in a basket and offering them to God. Ask the Lord to bless these crumbs. Beg for his light to enter through your cracks.

Watch this interpretation of the feeding of the multitude from The Chosen. See how the boy offers his five loaves and two fish. Note why he wants to share the food he has. How does the boy feel at that point? But see also how the disciple Andrew treats what the boy has brought. How does this make the boy feel? (A bit of trivia: The boy is given the name Telemachus, which is also the name of the son of Odysseus—a coincidence or are the writers of The Chosen telling us something else?)

Be attentive to what Jesus says about the five loaves and two fish. (I don’t want to cite the words here; I want you to watch the video!) Imagine Jesus looking you in the eye and speaking those very words to you.

Finally, try to catch the moment when one disciple says, “What has changed?” Now answer that question after saying once again, “Walang sayang.”

P.S. What is the best reaction to a miracle? For me, it is what you will see at exactly the 8:12 mark of the video.

P.P.S. At the start, I mentioned how we often miss possible flows between Gospel stories. Our Greek word for this week, klasmat?n or small fragments, provides a clue to one flow I will try to trace. Next week, we will encounter another word that is connected to this. You may want to read the Gospel next week ahead and look for that word. I hope you will see how the fragments fall into place.