Mangiari

Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matthew 14:13-21 ESV).

In an old newspaper clipping from the Galveston County Daily News, two of my relatives are having a meal at the Balinese Room off the beach in Galveston. In the group are (from left to right) Anthony Fertitta, Jimmy Van Heusen, Frank Sinatra, and Sam Maceo. The first and last of those are distant cousins. I’m sure, as was true with every Italian meal there was as much conversation as there was good food. That was simply how it was in my family. I can well remember my dad telling me “mangiare,” or in English, “eat.” It was how we celebrated family and friends. This was no different in Jesus’ world. Eating a meal was always something of a celebration. It was a very important part of a host’s responsibility. So, you can imagine the disciples’ surprise at being commanded to feed such a multitude as is recorded in our reading today. It is not much different when we face the multitudes of hungry people in our world as well. Yet, if we are to live the resurrected life, feeding the hungry is a part of that life. We cannot look at what we have in the physical realm (loaves and fish) and a hungry multitude. We need to remember what Jesus said to them: “Bring them here to me.” It is true that our material possessions can go only so far to help the poor. However, we cannot miss the point that it is always right and proper for us to help those in need. But also note that Jesus didn’t say, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” Nope. That’s humanity trying to solve humanity’s problems, which are well-intentioned efforts, but sadly, they are inevitably flawed ones. Give and create a dependent. Teach and create a defiant self-reliant. Jesus wants better than that. He wants disciples. So He says, “Bring them here to me.” That’s living the resurrected life. Treat all men like family. Mangiare!