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Commentary of the Gospell
Be protagonists of change
For a present-day reader of the gospel, the behaviour of those four thousand people would seem absurd. They left their homes to follow a preacher, even ignoring their basic needs. They chose to remain close to Christ, and he was “moved with pity”, because they were hungry.
Two miraculous feedings are mentioned in Mark within three chapters, the first one in chapter six. In the first feeding, the crowd was mostly Jewish. There, Jesus was immersed in preaching, and the disciples alerted him to the physical needs of the people. In the second, it was on the “other side” populated mostly by pagans. Here it is Jesus who becomes concerned about people going hungry and alerts the disciples who don’t seem very interested and bring up excuses.
When it comes to being Church, if we limit ourselves to ministering only to Christians, Jesus keeps shaking us awake to the everyday needs of those on the other side as wall—for everyone matters.
Jesus had the power to fix the problem of hunger. But he didn’t fix it himself but invited disciples to be missionaries to feed the hungry. “How many loaves do you have?” is the question. Today, Jesus asks us as well. No matter how insignificant or little it is, what we have is enough for God, provided we are willing to share.
In the Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit #174, Pope Francis appeals to the youth of the world: “Please, do not leave it to others to be protagonists of change. You are the ones who hold the future! Jesus was not a bystander. He got involved. Don’t stand aloof, but immerse yourselves in the reality of life, as Jesus did. …fight for the common good, serve the poor, be protagonists of the revolution of charity and service, capable of resisting the pathologies of consumerism and superficial individualism.”