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Jesus’ feeding the crowds provides rich teaching. First of all, it is an example of his compassion for those in need. It also looks forward to the Eucharist–through which Jesus will continue to feed thousands with his own body and blood.
The Bethany family of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus knew Jesus well. They loved him as a good friend. They had faith in what he taught and in what he could do. Jesus calls us to know him, to be friends with him, to have faith in him as well. How have I responded?
The growth of the kingdom involves judgment–a judgment that only God can make that involves the moral quality of those being judged. We are in the field of God’s kingdom, growing toward the harvest that will surely come. Are we the wheat or the weeds?
The apostles are all human, holding their gifts from God is earthen vessels: limited, hard working, reflecting the sufferings of Jesus, aware that all the blessings of their apostolic ministry come from the dying of Jesus, and are directed toward the manifestation of the risen Christ.
The kingdom of God is a state in which everything has been brought together into the will of God. Everything has become what God intended it to be.
Mary Magdalene is an attractive figure. She is interested only in the Lord, and when she identifies him nothing else matters. She doesn’t want to let him go.
Jesus launches into a focused program of instruction. He teaches the people gathered on the lakeshore in his own particular way. “He spoke to them at length in parables.” This is an important moment in Jesus’ teaching mission.
