THE TEXT BELOW IS THE TRANSCRIPTION OF THE VIDEO COMMENTARY BY FR. FERNANDO ARMELLINI

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A good Sunday to all. 

Today, we pause our reading of the Gospel according to Mark, which has accompanied us since the start of the liturgical year. For the next five Sundays, we will focus on chapter 6 of the Gospel according to John. Before discussing today’s passage, I want to share a few observations to help us understand the text properly, as it is easy to misinterpret it and miss the message the evangelist intends to convey. 

The first thing to note is the title found in some Bibles: ‘Multiplication of the loaves and fishes.’ Let’s remove this title immediately because it distracts from the message and drifts from what the evangelist wants to communicate. If we read the text carefully, we see that there is no mention of multiplication; it only describes five loaves and two fish being given to Jesus, and he distributes them to the crowd without adding anything. Surprisingly, those five loaves and two fish are enough to feed everyone there, and there are even leftovers, enough to fill twelve baskets with bread. So, let’s forget those scenes we’ve seen in some movies where Jesus appears as a skilled magician who takes loaves and fish from a basket, and the basket never runs out. These scenes of multiplication have nothing to do with the sign Jesus presents today. 

Second observation: This story appears six times in the Gospels, and no two accounts are identical. One says seven loaves of bread were given to Jesus; another mentions five loaves and two fish; one states they were in the wilderness, while another says there was green grass; one tells of 4000 people, and another of 5000 who ate the loaves; one talks about twelve baskets gathered, while another mentions seven. No two accounts are identical. Let us clarify how to understand this. They are not six different stories but six retellings of the same miracle performed by Jesus. This miracle is so rich in message that the four evangelists felt compelled to include it, with Matthew and Mark recounting it twice to ensure the sign’s message is complete. 

Third observation: I want to raise some questions non-believers ask themselves, but that also come up for us when we read this calmly: How is it possible that 5000 men went after Jesus, along with their wives and children? Mark, in chapter 8, tells us they followed him for three days. John—we’ll hear it in a moment—says they followed him up the mountain. 

As history, it seems unlikely. So, how many hours must it have taken Jesus to distribute those loaves and fish to such a large crowd? And then they gather the leftovers… Where did they go to look for those twelve baskets? Did they bring them empty? How is it possible that only one child kept the five loaves and the two fish? We know that children are usually the first to eat everything. This detail is not plausible unless the child was anorexic or symbolic. 

In short, it is clear that the evangelists are not providing us with a factual account, but rather offering a catechesis composed of biblical images familiar to their audience, which we will also attempt to understand today. 

One last observation: the problem the story aims to address is hunger—material hunger, not spiritual hunger. In the coming Sundays, Jesus’ discourse on the bread of life will be presented to us, and there we will discuss the food of life, which is the word of God, the wisdom that comes from heaven. At the end of the chapter, we will also hear about bread, and only at the very end about the discourse on the eucharistic bread, but not today. Today, Jesus wants to teach us how to perform a miracle to eliminate hunger in the world. We might wish for him to perform this miracle by raining manna from heaven or multiplying bread. Instead, he chooses not to do it; he teaches us how to perform this miracle ourselves. Hunger must disappear from the world, and he wants us to be the ones to make this happen. 

Having said this, let’s listen to how the story starts: 

Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee to Tiberias. A large crowd followed him because they saw the signs he performed on the sick. Jesus went up the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near.

I mentioned earlier that to understand the message the evangelist wants to convey, we need to pay close attention to the biblical references he includes in this story. The first of these references is to the Jewish Passover. Passover, the Jewish holiday, was approaching, and, as we know, it celebrates Israel’s liberation from slavery. The evangelist is emphasizing: pay attention, because in this story, Jesus is shown as the one who wants to lead an exodus in which you will be involved. 

Let’s examine these references to the Exodus. Jesus went to the shore of the Sea of Galilee. In Galilee, there is no actual sea, but a small lake that Luke calls ‘linne,’ meaning ‘lake.’ Why does the evangelist John refer to it as a sea, a sea that Jesus crosses just as Moses crossed the Red Sea, followed by all the people? It is a biblical ‘sea.’ It serves as a reminder that Jesus wants people who are still slaves to make an exodus. 

Another reference: A large crowd followed Jesus because they saw the signs he performed. This is exactly what happened with Moses. The people of Israel followed him because they trusted him after seeing the signs that came from God. Jesus also inspires trust in those who want to follow him—those living in a land that is not the kingdom of God but the kingdom of the evil one. He wants to take them out of there, and they trust him because he performs signs that can only come from God. 

Last reference to the Exodus: Jesus goes up the mountain just as Moses did. It is not a literal mountain; five thousand men, along with women and children, do not follow him onto a physical mountain. It’s the biblical mountain; it’s the place that symbolizes an encounter with God. Jesus invites all these people, whom he wants to lead out of bondage, and introduces them to God’s thoughts. If you don’t go up this mountain, if you don’t allow yourself to be involved in God’s thoughts, plans, and purposes, you will stay in the land of bondage. 

The evangelist says, ‘Be careful, because I am talking to you about an exodus you now have to make.’ Jesus wants to lead you out of the land where you are, ruled by the evil one, where everyone feels enslaved and where passions, envy, and lust run rampant… He wants to take you out and bring you to a land where you live as children of God. Let’s ask ourselves: is the world we live in following God’s plans, or is it still the evil one who dominates this world and society? Let us ask ourselves what our reality is. How are the essential goods for people’s lives distributed, and how do people relate to creation? Are they following the creator’s plan, or are they driven by insatiable greed? So, acting like poachers, they disregard future generations; they are slaves to their greed. 

And Jesus wants to take us out of this world. We all know how wealth is distributed in our society. Some live in luxury, indulging and squandering the resources of creation, while others live in misery, without access to clean drinking water or essential goods needed for a dignified human life. 

Confronted with this reality of our world, questions arise: Did God want such a world? Did he create a valley of tears to compel his children to struggle for food? Is this God’s intention, a world where people fight for bread? Where poverty and underdevelopment are part of the world God willed, making us long for paradise in another life? No one makes these statements anymore. 

Then, such a world is organized by the evil one, and people have paid attention to it. We must leave this world and enter the new one—the kingdom of God—where Jesus wants to lead us. This is the essential exodus. Let us listen to how Jesus now perceives the reality of our world and our hunger—hunger for life and for the goods necessary for a dignified human existence. Let us listen: 

When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, ‘Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?’ He said this to test him, because he knew what he would do. Philip answered him, ‘Two hundred days’ wages’ worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little bit.’ 

Jesus looks up, sees the crowd, and observes the needs of the hungry; a clear invitation to lift our eyes from our small world and interests to recognize the reality in which many of our brothers and sisters who are hungry live—those in misery, desperation, and violence. This is not the world God envisioned. Sometimes, perhaps, we have believed that God made mistakes. No, we have built this world by listening not to His word but to the suggestions of the evil one within us. The evil one is our selfishness; it is the impulse that drives us to turn inward, to focus on what we like, and to ignore others. This evil has shaped the world we live in, and from it we must make an exit. 

Jesus wants to draw us out of this old world and lead us into the world willed by God. Jesus has seen this hungry humanity, and when we say “hungry,” we do not mean only hunger for food but also the needs that must be met if we want a fully human life. The life of the sick person is not fully human, nor is the life of the lonely, the abandoned, the one who lacks affection, the one who knows no justice, the one who has no home or job, the one who cannot form a family. All these needs represent the hunger present in humanity. How can we respond to all these forms of hunger so that humanity is satisfied? 

Let’s see how Jesus addresses this issue. He turns to Philip and asks where we can buy what we need to satisfy our hunger. Jesus starts with our way of thinking: to buy from a seller. Our logic is that of the market. There must be an exchange; otherwise, we perish. We keep what we have, but it isn’t enough to satisfy all our hunger; we are not self-sufficient, and we need these exchanges of gifts with our brothers. 

What’s the problem? The logic that governs these exchanges—the logic of the market—is that whoever has the goods examines people’s needs and then sets the price. The greater the need, the more it benefits them because it raises the price. This is the market logic that shapes the world we live in. The evangelist says that Jesus talked with Philip about buying and selling to tempt him—that is, to make him realize that our buying and selling, driven by our pursuit of interest—which is the rule of the market—exposes the unjust world we all know well. Goods are a temptation; our instincts tell us to take possession of them, to accumulate, and to keep them for ourselves. At most, we share with family members. But even within families, when it comes to money, divisions and disagreements arise. 

The first letter to Timothy states that greed for money is the root of all evil. Jesus tests Philip to push him beyond the old world’s reasoning. The gifts are meant to be shared with those in need. What perspective does Jesus want to convey now, that of God? What people hold in their hands does not truly belong to them. The key truth to remember is that everything belongs to God, and we are entrusted with goods that are not ours. God has given them to us not so we can keep them for ourselves, but so we can give to those in need. This is God’s way of thinking. The market’s logic, which dominates our world, is a flawed system. It causes wars, creates refugees, brings sorrow and mourning, and results in the weeping and gnashing of teeth among those who reject the invitation to the free feast, where every son and daughter of God is welcome.

Inspired by Jesus, Philip steps forward and begins to think. He says that at least those with a lot of money should remember to give a little alms. He suggests that to solve the hunger of all these people, 200 denarii worth of bread isn’t enough, nor is giving a small piece to each person. It’s a welfare approach, almsgiving. This is the proposal attributed to Judas in the Gospel of John: “Could it not be sold for 300 denarii this spikenard perfume, and then give the money to the poor?” Yes, we should help the poor, but almsgiving isn’t the solution; it’s only a temporary fix in this unjust world, not the new world. Jesus desires a world where almsgiving has no purpose, because it always assumes that one becomes rich, accumulates resources, and then occasionally drops some. 

Provisionally, we don’t let the poor go hungry, but this isn’t the world God desires. These 200 denarii will eventually run out, and giving alms doesn’t truly solve the problem. Therefore, Philip’s proposal doesn’t lead us out of the old world; the miracle of the new world—where all forms of hunger are eliminated—remains unrealized. In Luke’s Gospel, another solution is presented: that of the Twelve. They go to Jesus and tell him to send the crowd away so they can go to the nearby villages to find lodging and food. In other words, to end world hunger, each person is left to their own devices. It’s a solution for those with money, and those with good legs get there first and buy all the bread they want because they have money. 

It’s a solution that says, ‘We come here for spiritual things—meditating, listening to sermons, praying—but when it comes to concrete hunger, let each person handle it.’ We must be careful, because this way of thinking also appears in Christian families. We should consider what kind of Christian education parents give their children to address hunger. Do they teach sharing, or do they promote accumulation? How are we taught to view our classmates—are they brothers and sisters to love and help, especially if they struggle with math and physics? Or are they seen as competitors or rivals? If they’re viewed as rivals, we’re still stuck in the old world, even if we go to church. Therefore, the solutions we’ve heard are ineffective. This mindset doesn’t address the danger of perceiving all evil in the world, including hunger. 

Now, there’s a disciple who proposes another idea; let’s hear him out. 

One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, ‘There is a boy here with five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are they for so many?’

Andrew timidly suggests the third proposal to address hunger. Simon Peter’s solution is different from buying; he says, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.’ Then he realizes he might have spoken nonsense and immediately adds, ‘But what good are these for so many?’

Let us note that only the evangelist John mentions this child and adds that the bread he had was barley bread; the bread of the poor was not wheat bread. How do you explain that, while all have eaten their provisions and already finished them, having nothing else, it is only this child who has five loaves and two fish? The detail about the child’s identity seems unlikely because we know children are usually the first to consume all the provisions; therefore, it is improbable that, among so many people, only this child has kept five loaves of bread. As I mentioned before, either this is an anorexic child or this child is a symbol. 

We know that Jesus asked his disciples to be like children, to take the last place in society, and to serve everyone. The term used is ‘paidarion,’ a diminutive of ‘páis.’ Who was the ‘paidarion’? It was the servant boy: when someone wanted to learn a trade, such as becoming a draftsman, they would show up and take the lowest position in the hierarchy. He received commands from everyone; he was the last to arrive, and if he didn’t hurry to carry them out, he could be pushed around, too. That was the ‘paidarion.’ It’s this kid who offers everything he has to everyone. But the objection comes up, “But what’s that to so many?” I mean, sharing is very good; it’s good to put everything in common, but Andrew says it doesn’t work; the food is scarce, and the crowd is huge. 

Through a clever dialogue, Jesus has highlighted our strategies for addressing the problem of hunger. These are the strategies the evangelist has skillfully attributed to the disciples, but those disciples are us; we reason the same way they do. When faced with the idea of dividing the assets, we immediately think it’s an unfeasible proposal and doesn’t make sense. 

Let’s now listen to Jesus’ solution and pay close attention, because he is teaching us how to perform a miracle and put an end to hunger in the world. 

Jesus said, ‘Have the people recline.’ There was a great deal of grass in that place, so the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those reclining, along with as much fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.’ So they collected them and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. 

We have seen that Jesus rejected buying and selling as a way to solve world hunger. If goods are exchanged purely by market logic, a society emerges marked by anger and harshness. Those who are fortunate, those with many resources, trade their goods, analyze needs, and as needs grow, see prices rise. It might even reach a point where, if someone does not have money, they are refused what they desperately need. This may be technically legal, but it remains inhumane. Jesus aims to lead us away from this world of competition, buying, and selling. This is not the way to share the goods that God has given us. Not according to this standard. 

Jesus also rejects the idea that everyone is supposed to get by—the smart and capable are saved, and the others fall behind… patience. This is the old world; we need to move away from it. Jesus also rejects a society where the rich and the poor coexist, with the rich giving alms to the poor. It’s still the old world. It’s not the world God intends. And now he presents us with the world he wants to bring about—the one we can envision because it’s built according to God’s standards. 

What does Jesus do? He tells the disciples, “Have the people recline.” The verb is important, ‘anapitnein,’ meaning “Have the people recline.” Why is this important? Because it reflects the position they adopted during Passover. They did not sit; they reclined to celebrate their freedom. The Persians first started this custom of reclining because they saw themselves as free people who needed to be served by slaves. The Greeks adopted this custom to celebrate their freedom; the Romans did as well, and the Jews were no less than they. At least during Passover night, they reclined because they said: “We are a free people.” Jesus makes the people recline; this signifies that the new world is made by free people. If they are still slaves to their passions, lust, desire to gather wealth, or slaves to money and possessions, the new world will not be born. 

The first condition is that the disciples prepare free people. Otherwise, the miracle will not happen; one remains in the land of slavery, where hunger will never be satisfied. People should let go of their selfishness, greed, and covetousness. At least the believers must free themselves from these impulses that dehumanize them and prevent them from acting like real people, and put their goods at the disposal of their brothers and sisters who need them to live. The first letter to Timothy, chapter 6, says that at least the believers should reflect on these basic truths. 

Nothing we bring into this world and nothing we can take with us. When we have something to eat and something to cover ourselves, let us be content. Those who seek to enrich themselves remain in bondage; they fall into temptation and the deception of foolish desires—greed that keeps them from living as true persons, from caring for their brothers and sisters, and from being willing to share their goods so others may live. This is the first requirement for this new world, which Jesus wants to introduce us to, and the only world where hunger disappears. 

The second thing Jesus does is make them lie down on the green grass; there was plenty of grass in that place, a truly original feast. The detail may seem minor or unnecessary, but it is very important because it references Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd, in green pastures I lie down.” What Jesus implies is that he wants them to move into this oasis of peace, not amid the mourning and gnashing of teeth of the old world, but into the new world, the world created by God. 

And then, what does Jesus do? He takes the loaves, raises his eyes to heaven, and gives thanks. What does this gesture mean? It is a blessing. By raising his eyes to heaven, he acknowledges that all the gifts for human life come from above; they come from God, not from people… “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the universe and its inhabitants,” says the Psalm. If one does not look up to heaven, one considers these gifts and goods as one’s own, and the logic of the market takes over. If one understands that these are not one’s own but God’s goods—which is true since we arrive in this world with nothing—then everything belongs to God. We are simply stewards of these gifts, knowing whom God intends them for: the brothers and sisters in need. This look toward heaven is essential for grasping and internalizing the new way of managing the possessions of this world. The era of the death of God, the time when it was thought that to be a true person, one had to eliminate God, has passed. 

The question remains, however, whether we eliminate this gaze toward heaven, this truth that we are not masters but guests in this world. If we do, what basis do we have for asserting that we cannot hoard goods according to our capacity or desires? Who can stop us from trading the goods we have received, and who can prevent us from selling them to the highest bidder? On the other hand, if we recognize that the goods are not ours but God’s, we can only manage them by donating them to those in need. 

This is God’s dream: to one day see all his children as olive trees gathered around the table, as diners and guests at the feast, not as masters hoarding the food, taking it from those who are hungry. 

Then, “When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.'” It is repeated twice that you must pick up all the leftovers, all the scraps. Here is why it is important not to waste God’s gifts. Let’s notice all the waste in our world, because the less it is shared, the more it is wasted. 

So they collected them and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, more than they could eat. This is the superabundance of God’s gifts. When they are used according to the Lord’s standards, they not only satisfy hunger but also leave more than enough. Now, let us listen to what the people understood from the proposal Jesus made. 

When the people saw the sign he had performed, they said, ‘This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.’ Since Jesus knew they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

Jesus revealed the new world he wants to bring us into, a world no longer ruled by the cruel laws of the market that cause weeping and gnashing of teeth. He aims to include all humanity in this world. He mentions it in the number five thousand. The number 5 in the Bible symbolizes the people of Israel; multiplied by a thousand, it stands for all humanity, invited to enter the new world Jesus offers—a world where people are no longer slaves to greed but are truly free. Free not to do whatever they want or desire—because that is not real freedom; that’s still slavery to passions. 

A person is truly free when they are their authentic self, moved by the joy of seeing a brother or sister happy. That happiness comes from sharing in their joy by giving them the goods God has entrusted to them; they give to a brother or sister in need. It’s like that child who gave all he had—five loaves and two fish. The number 7 symbolizes completeness; it represents the true disciple of Christ, one who embraces the new world Jesus offers. 

What did they understand? Jesus has shown them all this, yet the people understand nothing. They are searching for Jesus, the miracle worker, but Jesus didn’t perform the miracle — the child did. They refuse to see the child because the child gives everything. Jesus’s proposal for the new world is that everyone should be like that child. They seek Jesus as a miracle worker; they don’t want to make the exodus; they prefer to remain slaves to their greed. 

Let’s be careful, because this misunderstanding about what they have done still holds for many Christians today who seek Jesus as a miracle worker. When he sees them seeking him for that, what does he do? He flees to the mountain. It is this misunderstanding that drives him to escape, because people don’t expect the new world, the new humanity, from him. And don’t dare remove this expectation of wonders from people’s minds, including Christians, because belief in Jesus as someone who performs miracles remains strong among many even today. But when this misunderstanding arises, Jesus flees. 

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good week.