Today is Corpus Christi Sunday and we might wonder why this gospel. Why not John 6 and the Bread of Life discourse, or a Last Supper account? So, I’m going to start by trying to answer that question and then make a reflection on one thing that really hit me in this gospel.

First, this miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish and the feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle that is recorded in all 4 gospels. Second, it says they were in a deserted place. The word that is translated as deserted place is the same word for desert or wilderness such as when Jesus was led into the desert to be tempted. So, we have a miraculous feeding in a deserted place or desert which naturally calls to mind another miraculous feeding in a desert during the Exodus with the miracle of the manna.

Next, notice how it says Jesus had the Apostles get the people to sit in groups of 50 (Mark’s account says 50’s and 100’s). There’s 5,000 men plus women and children, and 12 apostles. Can you imagine how long that must have taken? Why is He doing this? Well, as Brant Pitre likes to say, anytime you see something strange in the New Testament, look to the Old Testament.

Going back to Moses and the Exodus, Ex 18:25 says this:

He (Moses) chose able men out of all Israel (all 12 tribes) and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And those men, they judged the people at all times…

It’s not exactly the same, but it’s certainly a parallel. By the time of Jesus, there’s the idea that the Messiah will do like Moses. He will appoint leaders over the people of Israel who will form them into groups of 100’s and 50’s and lead them. So, Jesus is identifying himself as the new Moses. He appoints 12 leaders who, we see later (Lk 22:30), will judge the 12 tribes of Israel just like the judges selected by Moses. And the people gathered into groups of 50 represent the new Israel.

This miracle looks back to Moses and the exodus and in particular, the miraculous feeding in the desert with the manna. And it also looks forward to the eucharist. Luke makes this clear when he describes what Jesus does. He took the loaves and the fish, He blessed them, He broke them, and He gave them to the disciples to distribute to the crowd. He took, He blessed, He broke, and He gave, exactly the same as the Last Supper.

In light of this idea that this miracle looks forward to the eucharist, I want to reflect on one statement in today’s gospel: they all ate and were satisfied. How can we apply that to the eucharist?

They all ate and were satisfied. That immediately implies that they were hungry. I’ve been reading the best book I’ve ever seen on grace, called “If you knew the gift of God” by Fr. Cliff Ermatinger, and he lists 5 dispositions that we need when receiving the eucharist in order for it to be fruitful in our lives. Sacraments 101: the fruitfulness or efficacy of sacramental grace is dependent on the disposition with which we receive it and Father gives 5 dispositions we need for a fruitful communion. They are: faith (believing without seeing), humility (knowing we are unworthy), boundless confidence (trusting in His mercy and goodness), thanksgiving, and the one that he says most directly affects the efficacy of communion, hunger.

Hunger for Him, hunger for intimacy with Him who is love. The more we approach Him with this hunger, the more He will change us to be like Himself. Listen to St. Paul describe his hunger in his letter to the Philippians:

⁷ But whatever gain I had (as a Pharisee who was blameless under the law), I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; ¹⁰ that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

That’s hunger! How can we have that? Start by fervently asking God for it. St. Teresa of Avila, when speaking of deep prayer, says that God will not give Himself except to those who have given themselves completely to Him. Many of us are tempted to say, okay, that rules me out, I can’t do that. But then Teresa says, wait a minute, if you don’t have the desire needed to do that, ask Him for it, and He’ll give it to you. So this is most important – fervently ask God for this hunger.

A couple of other things we can do to help. Feed on the things of heaven. John of the Cross says we will never find satisfaction in the bread of angels if we hunger for the bread of earth. Desire begets desire. If we’re feeding our desire for the things of this world, we’re simply not going to hunger for the things of heaven. It’s just the way it is. 

Reflect on our impoverishment and our need for Him and His help. My son, Fr. Chris, has been and is continuing to write about and speak about how social media in particular is seriously hurting our capacity for intimacy. Back in the 80’s and 90’s when Steubenville started their summer conferences for high schoolers, they focused on having a personal relationship with Jesus. Starting in the 2000’s they found they had to make a change and focus on having a personal relationship period.

Many of us are starving for intimacy. Bring this hunger to Jesus.  He is the answer. He is love itself and we find love not only in Him, but in each other. I was reflecting the other day on the incredible goodness of Jesus giving us the eucharist because of His desire to be intimate with us, and I was wondering, why the eucharist, why a simple piece of bread? We can’t see, hear, or feel His presence. Why did He choose this way? I’m sure there are many good answers, but here’s what came to me. Think of this – after we receive communion, we all have the same Jesus within us. He’s in each of us. We’re united in Him, and this is His ultimate desire. It’s not just Him and me; it’s also Him and us. As He said in His prayer at the Last Supper – “that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us.” Jn 17:21. Imagine if we could truly allow Him to love through us. Then we would see, hear, and feel His presence.

It reminds me of when my wife, Joni, met Mother Theresa. She was at the Gift of Peace home (the Missionaries of Charities home in DC) and she met her and she said Mother grabbed her hands and Joni looked into those eyes, and she saw Jesus and Mary. It was so clear. This is possible. Maybe we can’t be like Mother Teresa, but the more we hunger for Him, the more He will change us to radiate with His love.

So, brothers and sisters, as we come up for communion today, come hungry.