Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted 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 for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." And he said, "Bring them here to me." Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for this opportunity to spend time with you in prayer. You greatly want me to spend this time with me and so do I, because you are always speaking to me and I dont slow down enough to listen to you. Increase my faith, hope, and love. These are the gifts and virtues that come directly from you and which I need in order to connect with you. They help me to see you clearly and to act in the way that pleases you.

Petition: Lord Jesus, help me never to rely on my own strength, and never to doubt in yours.

1. Send the crowds away; they need not go away. This is the dialogue that the Apostles had with Jesus about the crowds that were following them. The apostles felt responsible for these people; after all, theyd been wandering after them and Jesus, and in the process have run out of food. Jesus and the apostles seemed to be the cause of their problem, and they knew that if the crowds did not eat they would suffer the consequences of their hunger. The apostles looked around at their limited resources and decided it would be better to wrap things up so the people could go buy themselves food. That is why they suggest to Jesus to send the people away. The apostles want Jesus to be the one to tell the people that he has nothing more to offer them. Jesus doesnt want to say to the people, so many who have received from him sight, cleansing, healing, that this is the limit of the good that you will receive from us now, go. Jesus tells the apostles that he is happy where these people are and they can stay right there. They are seeking the Kingdom of God and Jesus is going to make sure everything else is added for them.

2. Give them something; we have nothing. Jesus commands the apostles. He doesnt gingerly suggest or request it; instead he tells them outright that they are to feed these people. He has a lesson they need to learn. Jesus has been giving so much to them already and now it is going to be the apostles turn to take part, by cooperating with Jesus. The problem with the apostles is that they dont yet look beyond the material; they think they have too little. And they do, humanly speaking. They see they have scant resources, and for them thats the end of the story. When Jesus tells them to do what seems impossible, they get stuck in what is impossible for man without realizing that God is there present, and nothing is impossible for God. Humanly speaking, they are correct, they do not have what this crowd is asking of them; there is really no way that the apostles can satisfy the needs of this crowd by their own efforts. After seeing Jesus act in miraculous fashion so many times, why didnt they realize that this seemingly impossible request was really Jesus prompting them to turn to him?

3. Bring them here to me. The apostles knew exactly what they had. Five loaves and two little fish was going to leave the twelve of them and Jesus still feeling hungry They bring everything to him. There is something touching about their honestly, this is absolutely all they have, and they put it at Jesus feet. That was as much as they could do without him. Jesus takes the food and blesses it; he breaks the loaves and gives them back to the apostles with the amazing command, go feed the people. And they did. We dont know which of them took the first step, but someone did and all the rest followed, doing the same. And because of their faith the miracle Jesus intended to do was able to happen. What would have happened to Jesus power if the apostles hadnt cooperated? They must have realized then the truth of Jesus words, without me you can do nothing.

Conversation: Lord Jesus, you have called me to work with you in helping make the world more Christian. I want to follow you and to help satisfy the crowds but I recognize that what I have to offer on my own is inadequate. Take Lord, the little I am and the small offering I have, and multiply it so that those who are hungering and thirsting for you will be satisfied.

Questionnaire:

1. Is there anything in which what Jesus seems to want and what I think I can do are very different one from the other? What am I going to do about it?

2. How do I react when Jesus asks me to come out of my comfort zone and trust in him more?