Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A
Reflecting on Matthew 14: 13-21
What a moment that must have been. Imagine turning over to Jesus everything you had left to eat while traveling with him to that “deserted place.” Between them they only had five loaves and two fish. I suspect they had already portioned that out in their minds as they looked forward to dinner. And now he’s asking them to turn that over!
Imagine watching him take, bless, break and share that humble offering, and then passing it out to the enormous crowd who had followed him out to that place, begging him to cure their sick.
But wait. What is happening? The crowd is eating contentedly. From whence has come all this food?
Matthew’s gospel is filled with Jewish allusions, because his audience is Jewish and he shapes his memories so that they will resonate with the stories. Hence, he is careful to note that everyone is spread out on the grass, evoking Psalm 23:2, “in green pastures he gives me repose.” Somehow there is plenty to eat, and look, there are TWELVE (evoking the twelve tribes of Israel) wicker baskets of food left over.
In contrast, when St. Luke recounts this famous moment to his Gentile audience (9:10-17) he leaves off these evocative Jewish phrases.
There is a famous and touching mosaic found on the floor of a fourth-century church on the northwestern shore of Lake Galilee, the site where Jesus is thought to have performed this miracle. The two fish and the plate holding the loaves are clearly visible. But here’s the real miracle: there are only four loaves on the plate.
That fifth loaf? That’s you and me, and the whole Church, whose mission is to be leaven for the world.
How are you participating in this Eucharistic miracle?
Kathy McGovern ©2026