The account of the multiplication of the loaves, together with that of the transformation of water into wine at the wedding feast of Cana and that of the miraculous catch of fish in the Sea of Galilee, are the three miracle narratives that have to do with food offered in abundance, even in excess.
Particularly, the account of the multiplication of the loaves explicitly mentions that the men alone who ate were about five thousand; that they had only five barley loaves and two fish; and that at the end, with the pieces left over from the five loaves, they filled twelve baskets.
On the one hand, there is an overflowing multitude of hungry people; on the other hand, the resources to feed them are meager, insignificant.
But in spite of everything, Jesus is able to feed and satiate them to such an extent that there is food left over for many more people.
Sometimes we hear explanations of this story to the effect that what happened was that Jesus motivated the multitude of people present there to share what they had brought to eat each one for himself, and that the people had brought so much food that in the end even those who had brought nothing from their homes ate and there was still some left over.
That is an explanation that takes away the miraculous aspect of the multiplication of loaves to put the story in function of an economic ideology.
This interpretation does not fit the story.
Nowhere does it say that the people had their own food and that Jesus’ challenge was how to motivate them to share.
On the contrary, Jesus poses the question, “How shall we buy bread for these to eat?” He feels responsible for feeding the crowd that followed him.
Philip replies to Jesus that even two hundred denarii would not be enough for everyone to get a piece of bread.
It is clear that the people have nothing to eat, that Jesus feels responsible for feeding them, and that the resources available in money and food are not enough for the multitude.
On the other hand, Jesus’ purpose was not to solve the problem of the people’s bodily hunger.
When they returned to their homes, they no longer had any food as a gift.
Hunger and poverty in the world are not solved by distributing the goods of those who have to those who have not; they are not solved by the distribution of wealth that already exists, but by the participation of more and more people in the creation of wealth that does not yet exist, through the investment of capital and the promotion of employment and human labor.
There are the remittances as evidence.
The twenty billion dollars that migrants sent to Guatemala last year was not taken from anyone; they created it with their labor, because there were companies that provided the capital that made the labor productive.
So the interpretation of the story in the key of sharing the goods is false.
In fact, next Sunday we are going to read the continuation of this story, and Jesus is going to reproach the people who are looking for him to feed them again, that they are wrong.
When Jesus multiplied the few loaves and fishes to feed a huge multitude of people just once, he meant something else.
He meant that he alone is capable of satisfying in abundance another hunger, which is not for bread, but for meaning and consistent life.
The people did not grasp the meaning of the miracle.
“You are looking for me, not because you have seen miraculous signs, but because you have eaten your fill of those loaves.”
I did the miracle, Jesus says, not so much to appease their hunger in the body, so do not look for me to repeat the miracle.
I multiplied the loaves to give you a sign that I alone can satisfy the hunger of the soul, but you are not able to grasp that I have come to satisfy a hunger deeper than that of the body.
This is a danger we can still incur today in the Church when we try to reduce its mission to solving people’s temporal needs, or when we try to keep followers and followers by means of gifts that satisfy temporal needs.
Of course, charity demands that we alleviate, as far as possible, the temporal needs of people in need.
We Christians, personally, and the Church, as an institution, go out to meet people in their temporal needs in order to relieve them, especially in times of adversity.
But charity does not consist in making people dependent on handouts, gifts and bonuses.
In matters of temporary needs, the ethical solution is the creation of job opportunities, and this is a matter of economic policies.
What is the deep need that affects us all and that only Jesus can remedy?
Fundamentally, Jesus came to give us the possibility of articulating our meaning of life in the face of death and the ravings of our freedom.
At birth, our life is to be made.
We are not born with a prescribed script that we have only to put on stage as actors do with the characters they play.
We have to invent and create ourselves day after day from the moment we are born until we die.
We ask ourselves questions such as: Why was I born?
Why was I born?
Why did I get these conditions of life, when I see that others got conditions that seem more favorable to me?
Where am I going with my existence?
What should I do to make life worth living?
How should I live so that at the end of my life I can say that it was worthwhile and that I was not a failure?
These are the questions that Jesus, with his word, with his works, with his death and resurrection, helps us to answer.
To have answers to these questions is to find salvation.
In the first place, Jesus teaches us that only in him do these questions find a complete answer.
Certainly, thinking humanity has tried to answer these questions through philosophy, through man-made religions, through culture.
But Jesus claims exclusivity: only I can give the bread of life.
Other answers exist, but they are not as good, nor as profound, nor as true as those given by Jesus.
He is, in truth, the prophet who had to come into the world.
Secondly, Jesus offers answers and salvation in abundance.
His gifts are enough for all and even more than enough.
From five loaves and two fish, he is able to satisfy the multitude and even many more.
From his words, from his works, from his death and resurrection, he has brought salvation to all.
From what from the outside looks like the failure of the cross, salvation has come to us.
From the folly of preaching, eternal life has come to us (1 Cor 1:18-25).
Let us put our faith in him.