And He took the five loaves the the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes

 

 When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself.  But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.  And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.  When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late.  Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food."  But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away.  You give them something to eat."  And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish."  He said, "Bring them here to Me."  Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass.  And He took the five loaves the the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.  Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children. 

 

- Matthew 14:13-21 

 

 Yesterday we read that at this time in Christ's ministry, Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus and said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him."  For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.  Because John had said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her."  And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.  But when Herod's birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod.  Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.  So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, "Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter."  And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her.  So he sent and had John beheaded in prison.  And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.  Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

 

  When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself.   According to Theophylact, when Jesus heard it refers not to John's death (see yesterday's reading, above), but to Herod's comment that Jesus is John raised from the dead.  It tells us perhaps that this is a signal of another turning point in Christ's ministry.  Recently we read He was rejected in His hometown of Nazareth.  He is already being questioned and menaced by the Jewish religious establishment, the Pharisees and scribes.  With Herod fearing Christ and His power, it is a sign that state power has now turned its attention to Him.  So perhaps this turning to a deserted place by Himself is, as is His custom, a time for prayer and communion with the Father, seeking the direction His ministry should take in response and for the future.

 

  But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.  And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.  When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late.  Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food."  But Jesus said to them, "They do not need to go away.  You give them something to eat."  And they said to Him, "We have here only five loaves and two fish."  He said, "Bring them here to Me."  Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass.  And He took the five loaves the the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.  So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.  Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.   Jesus is unable to get away by Himself, as by now His popularity and the the demand for Him is so great.  My study Bible comments that this miracle, which is reported by all four Evangelists, shows Jesus feeding a great multitude of God's people, just as He, as Lord, fed the Israelites in the desert (see Exodus 16).  In this feeding in the wilderness, we're told, the Church Fathers see an image of the Eucharist, an idea which is made clear in John 6.  There is another miracle in the future reading in St. Matthew's Gospel, in which Jesus feeds four thousand people, with a different number of loaves.  My study Bible comments that some modern scholars try to say that they're the same story, but Jesus' words make clear they are not (Matthew 15:32-39; 16:8-10).  It is frequently written of Christ that He was moved with compassion (Matthew 20:34; Mark 1:41, 6:34; Luke 7:13), which shows that His power and authority are extended to people who suffer.  There is also a spiritual interpretation regarding the five loaves, that it indicates the five books of the Law (Genesis through Deuteronomy), which my study Bible says are broken open in Christ and thereby feed the universe.  The two fish represent the Gospel Book and the Epistle Book, the teaching of the fishermen.  In blessing the food, Jesus shows us that we should not eat without first giving thanks to God.  This terminology He uses points to the Last Supper (Matthew 26:26) and contributes to the eucharistic interpretation of this miracle.  As the disciples distribute the bread to the multitudes, so Christ feeds the Eucharist to His flock through the hands of His bishops and presbyters.  The gathering of the leftover by the apostles shows that the teachings which we are unable to grasp are nevertheless always held in the consciousness of the Church. 

 

The story of the loaves and fishes reminds us about abundance; it invites us to ask questions.  Where does abundance come from?  What constitutes abundance?  When is it that we feel we need such abundance?  It's important to note that the people who followed Him on foot from their cities truly desired Him.  His compassion first comes in the form of healing.  In other Gospels, we also find He preached to them.  St. Mark tells us that Jesus was moved with compassion for these people because they were "like sheep not having a shepherd," and so His first act of compassion is to teach them many things (see Mark 6:30-44).  So perhaps our first consideration is to contemplate just what Jesus feeds these people with -- which things does He truly sense they need, and in what order or priority?  There is also the fact that it is because they remain with Him for so much time that the necessity for food comes to the fore.  Jesus shows them tremendous, and importantly for customs and culture in Christian context, hospitality.  He makes the table for them, so to speak, invites them to His supper.  And this language obviously applies to the suggestion of the Eucharist to come.  But perhaps the greatest "sign" here for us to see is Christ's power of multiplication, for such a power belongs to God.  Such a power belongs to the God who created the world.  Perhaps there are many today who speak about an underlying framework of reality which occurs as fractal (see especially symbologist Jonathan Pageau).  That is, the repeated images and patterns which occur and re-occur, scaled to all measure of scale, from the largest to the smallest.  One example of a fractal pattern is the phenomenon of snowflakes; they seem to be a repeated pattern when they occur, each bears resemblance to another but each is unique, infinitely replicating and yet diverse in detail.  This study of reality as an underlying pattern of fractals gives rise to considerations about the creative power of God, and the presence of that very creative power in all things we know.  One small reflection of that is the pattern of the Eucharist, the pattern of this feeding in the wilderness -- and a great example lies in the pattern of Christ's multiplication of the fish and loaves in order to feed a whole multitude.  It is an act which mirrors and reflects the way that God creates.  This feeding itself is a type of pattern, which will be fulfilled in the Eucharist, which in turn will come to be fulfilled in our participation in the life of Christ and our coming together, and being consistently reborn as community, as the faithful in Christ's Kingdom.  If we think about how this very example of God's creative power as multiplicity may work in our lives as faithful, then we may also come to understand how we follow Christ in times of need, or difficulty, or when we are also like sheep not having a shepherd, when we seek answers to problems that present themselves to us.  We always have our Shepherd, and it is the pattern of His very life that is set down for us to repeat, each as a unique expression of faith in following Him.  Do we feel we lack abundance? We might start with gratitude for what we do have, and prayer for what we think we don't.  Do we need to care for people and feel we will be unable to do so?  We start with hospitality and work from there.  We see what we can multiply, what we can divide, who has something that will help and is willing to do so.  And we start with everything in love, because God is love, and if love does not guide us, then we are being misled.  These are all patterns of repetition and multiplication that we need to seek when we are out "in the wilderness" so to speak, for we seek Him in all things (another example of how fractals work).  We seek the meaning that Christ can offer, even in our suffering, for the Cross is also one of those patterns of our lives that means we are to live "like Him."  In this sense we think of the power of God for multiplication, that we each become temples to God, and the Holy Spirit can work in this way as a pattern of multiplication in us, through our communities, through time, for He is the finger of God, sent by the Father, through the Son.  These are all the endlessly multiplied fractals of holy power, the creative power of God, working through our lives and through Jesus Christ, our Lord who gave us all things.  Let us consider the blessings we've got, and be thankful for them, engaging in these gifts for all of us from God.

 

 

 

 

 

Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost

 

 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"  Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."  Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

 

- John 6:1–15 

 

In recent readings, Jesus had healed a paralytic while attending the Feast of Weeks, or Old Testament Pentecost, in Jerusalem.  He was challenged by the religious leaders for healing on a Sabbath, and responded regarding His identity as Son and relation to the Father.  In yesterday's reading, He continued, "I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.  If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.  There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.  You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.  But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works that I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.  I do not receive honor from men.  But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

 

 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  My study Bible comments that the entirety of chapter 6 of John's Gospel is a parallel to the story of the Passover and Exodus of Israel from Egypt in several important ways.  So, here we note that it is the time of the Passover (this is the second Passover recorded during Christ's earthly ministry in John's Gospel).  We also note another commonality in that, in Exodus (Exodus 11 - 17), God first performed signs against Pharaoh, and then gave instructions of how to be saved at the time of the Passover (Exodus 11:1-12:14).  Here also, multitudes follow Christ because of His signs.

 

Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"  My study Bible says that here Christ tests Philip to increase his faith, as Philip needed help in understanding Him (John 14:8-10).  It notes that two hundred denarii corresponds to over six months' wages for a laborer.   My study Bible adds that Andrew has greater faith than Philip.  He knows that the prophet Elisha had multiplied bread for 100 men (2 Kings 4:42-44), and so offers the food brought by a particular lad.  But nonetheless, Andrew remains weak in faith, as he questions what a mere five loaves could do for the number of people there.  

  Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."  Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.  Although Jesus had performed greater signs than this one, my study Bible says, the crowds so desired an earthly Messiah that here they declare Jesus the expected Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-19) only after they were filled with earthly things.  Due to this misunderstanding, Jesus departed from them.  In another parallel to the story of the Exodus, the Jews were said to eat unleavened bread because they were hastily driven out of Egypt and had brought no provisions of food for themselves (Exodus 12:39).  Here Jesus has fed the multitudes with earthly bread, as they had brought no provisions, having rushed out to see Him.  

In today's reading we are given the feeding of the multitude which is the fourth of seven signs reported in John's Gospel.  So central to the story of Christ is this event that it is recorded in all four Gospels.  My study Bible comments that the description of Christ as He took the loaves, gave thanks (Greek ευχαριστω/eucharisto), and distributed them is a prefiguring of the celebration of the Eucharist.  The twelve baskets of left over fragments of loaves suggest the Eucharist -- Christ, the bread of life  -- being taken by the apostles to all the world.  So we come to terms with the concept that feeding is central to our God, and to our understanding of what it is that God does for us.  God feeds us.  Eating is so central to life in the world, and so central to the life of all creatures, we might consider the seeking for food to be our most primal instinct.  There are those who say that more than anything else that we need, food takes a precedence.   The securing of food becomes our greatest incentive motivating behavior in the lives of individuals, families, and communities.  So Christ as Lord -- just as in the feedings in the wilderness with manna -- steps in out of compassion to feed those who have followed Him, suggesting to us that the Lord provides for those who seek Him.  But as this story prefigures the Eucharist, we must consider with what food we are provided by Christ, and how His food feeds us for a kind of eternal day and an eternal life.  In the story of His encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, Jesus promised a living water that would provide that one would never again thirst, water that once given a person by Christ, "will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life" (see this reading).  Of course, we know that the food Christ will leave us permanently will be His own sacrifice, shared with us in a communal meal in the Eucharist, His Body and Blood that will become even a part of us so that we may live through participation in His life, death, and Resurrection.  This is a kind of sustenance, a food that feeds us through all things, that will help us to live a life that is more than just about flesh, or materialism, but rather a life with grace, with a sense in which God is calling us through all things.  Christ's food for us is God's promise and God's love, that we are not abandoned even when all else fails, and others upon whom we may depend fall through.  In Christ's food we have more than the satiating of a material impulse, here now and quenched a few moments later, but a deeper need sustaining our souls and helping us to recognize God's care for our lives and our well-being in all kinds of ways.  The people who follow Christ in today's reading do so in order to make Him king, because they want the material substance and food He can provide, but to be king is not what He is after, nor is His great sign of feeding in the wilderness performed simply in order that they would think of Him this way.  Christ is a different kind of King with a different kind of Kingdom, one to which we are drawn through something more than the next meal we need, or the food for one day.  What Christ feeds us with is an entire Kingdom, a system of strengths and of values, an energy of grace, the assurance of life and of love, the challenge to live our lives with meanings that surpass the rest of what we know, and the power to keep going even when so much is lost.  Let us be grateful for all He offers, and take in the food He gives to nurture all the ways -- both known and unknown -- we might grow in His sight, and under His care.  We might note a seemingly small detail, that Christ tells His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost," indicating something so priceless, of such valuable substance, that nothing may be lost, so that even the smallest morsel is precious.  For the tiniest morsel of this food has in it the power of life and Resurrection, making all things new all the time.

 

 

 

And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray

Multiplication of five loaves and two fish.  Miniature from the gospel of Tsar John Alexander of Bulgaria, 1356

 Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.  And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."  For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.  So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.  But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities.  They arrived before them and came together to Him.  And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.  So He began to teach them many things.  When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.  Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat."  But He answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?"  But He said to them, "How many loaves do you have?  Go and see."  And when they found out they said, "Five, and two fish."  Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.  And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all.  So they all ate and were filled.  And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.  Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.

Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away.  And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. 

- Mark 6:30-46

Yesterday we read that the twelve apostles, on their first mission, cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.  Now King Herod heard of Jesus, for His name had become well-known.  And he said, "John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him."  Others said, "It is Elijah."  And others said, "It is the Prophet, or like one of the prophets."  But when Herod heard, he said, "This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!"  For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife; for he had married her.  Because John had said to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."  Therefore Herodias held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not; for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him.  And when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly.  Then an opportune day came when Herod on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee.  And when Herodias' daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, "Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you."  He also swore to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom."  So she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?"  And she said, "The head of John the Baptist!"  Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter."  And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her.  Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought.  And he went and beheaded him in prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.  When his disciples heard of it, they came and took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb.

 Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught.  The narrative of the Gospel picks up where the beginning of yesterday's reading left off, with the culmination of the first mission of the twelve apostles.

And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."  For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.  So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.  My study bible remarks that Jesus gives rest to His disciples to show those who are engaged in preaching and teaching that they must not labor continuously, but must also take rest.  In a sense, it reflects upon this time of Lent, in which we turn away from frenetic activity, to consider the value of a time of inward disposition for prayer, rest, contemplation, reflection.

But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities.  They arrived before them and came together to Him.  And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.  So He began to teach them many things.   At this stage in Jesus' ministry, and after the apostles have come back successfully from their first mission, the Gospel is careful to let us know of Jesus' great fame in the region, and the multitudes who seek Him so vociferously that they anticipate even His move to a "deserted place" and arrive there before Him.  Once again we're told that Jesus is moved with compassion, and we understand this union of full humanity with full divinity.  In the Greek, the expression denotes an inward feeling of the interior body, not simply an impression in the mind.  My study bible notes that this expression occurs many times in the Gospels concerning Jesus (1:41, Matthew 20:34, Luke 7:13), and it shows that Christ's power and authority are extended to those who suffer.  Let us observe that He first feeds these sheep not having a shepherd by teaching them many things.  For Him to teach is to respond to their immediate need.

When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late.  Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat."  But He answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?"  But He said to them, "How many loaves do you have?  Go and see."  And when they found out they said, "Five, and two fish."  Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass.  So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties.  And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all.  So they all ate and were filled.  And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.  Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.   Let us note first of all that, although unplanned, Jesus responds as needs arise.  More importantly, His responses become hallmarks of God's work in the world, and of His ministry and its meanings and spiritual impact.  This feeding miracle is reported in all four Gospels.  It first of all reflects God's work of feeding the Israelites in the desert (Exodus 16).  But Jesus' action takes that episode, understood from Israel's spiritual past, and magnifies it into something new.  That new thing is a reflection of the Eucharist (this is implied most strongly in John 6, the last of the Gospels to be written, and so reflecting the understanding of the growing Church at that time).  Christ's blessing and division of the loaves, and distribution via the disciples, is clearly indicative of the Eucharist, and teaches us about giving thanks to God for all things.  One traditional spiritual interpretation of this feeding miracle teaches that the five loaves indicate the five books of the Law, or Torah (Genesis through Deuteronomy), which are broken open in Christ and thereby feed the universe.  The two fish, my study bible says, represent the Gospel Book and the Epistle Book, the teaching of the fishermen.  In the gathering of the leftovers into twelve baskets by the apostles (one for each), we see that the teachings which the faithful are at present unable to grasp are nevertheless held in the consciousness of the Church for those who will understand, and sent out into all the world through them.  This feeding miracle, with its multiplication on behalf of a hungry multitude, is a clear sign of the divinity of Christ.

Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away.  And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.  Christ returns to His purpose and mission; the disciples are sent toward familiar territory in Bethsaida, while He goes to the mountain to pray.  It is also noteworthy that at this juncture, when something new and "explosive" (especially in the multiplication of the loaves and fish) occurs, He retreats for prayer and reorientation in communion with God the Father.  So we should do likewise.

I'm most intrigued today by Jesus' retreat to the mountain to pray, after such a ground-breaking kind of miracle or sign as the feeding of the multitude in the wilderness.  In this feeding is not only a clear opening toward an understanding and eventual full manifestation of the Eucharist, but it is also a sign of God's profoundly explosive work in the world, which suddenly shakes our understanding and interpretation of everything that has come before.  These facts of this manifestation of a sign of God through Christ's ministry contribute to the way in which we look at His immediate withdrawal to the mountain for prayer.  Not only does this sudden, unexpected manifestation of power testify to His divinity and God's presence, it will surely give rise to yet more and deeper zeal of the crowds to follow Him, to make Him even more renown, to spread word regarding what kind of figure such miracles portend.  In short, at this stage it is also inevitable that He is moving toward confrontation with the religious authorities over His growing following and reputation.  He has suddenly become, much more profoundly, a messianic figure.  In light of this, Jesus' withdrawal to the mountaintop tells us some more about Christ, His purpose, and His mission.  There is a great emphasis on constant communion with the Father.  Rather than capitalizing on His fame (in John's Gospel, we're told that the people wished to forcefully make Him king - see John 6:15), Jesus withdraws for a deeper communion in prayer.  His first impulse is to retreat for realignment and direction, a deeper communion in which He may receive and understand the appropriate direction for His ministry.  Let us note that in this withdrawal there is an affirmative character placed upon how we should approach our lives as well when any good thing befalls us.  We not only should give thanks, as does Jesus for the loaves and fishes, but also reorient ourselves for God's direction in our lives.  Our good fortune, such as it is, and no matter what it is, should also be placed into the hands of God not only for good direction in how it is used, but also for a strong faith in how we carry ourselves into the world in the next stories in our own lives.  As we are perceived by others having a certain profile with each new unfolding or event in our lives, so we turn to Christ to find how we are to conduct ourselves most profitably also for our spiritual selves and for the spiritual lives of those around ourselves.  And that is a profound teaching indeed, especially at this time of Lenten prayer and retreat.  Let us give thanks for what we have, let us place all at the hands of God for service and spiritual health and growth.  At this time, during the world outbreak of the coronavirus, there is so much emphasis placed on our physical health.  Let us not forget, in this time of retreat, how we can so profitably use the time for spiritual growth and health as well.