(The readings for this mass can be found here)
     Mt 14: 13-21
The Multiplication of Bread
       The lord opens his hands to us and feeds us; he satisfies our spiritual needs with his body and blood and is concerned about our physical needs as well.
The Multiplication of bread is the most often related of all gospel events; it appears twice in Mark and Matthew and once in Luke and John. The liturgy offers it to us more often than any other event in the life of Jesus.
Today’s gospel tells us that Jesus and his disciples needed to rest; they were exhausted from their constant travelling and Jesus was even more tired because of his preaching and healings and long hours of prayer, getting up early in the morning  before all the other started awaking.
Moreover they have just heard just heard of John the Baptist’s death and they need to mourn him, their former master and perhaps the best friend Jesus ever had.
Their day of rest and recollection is ruined by the crowds hungry for the presence of Jesus who taught them and healed them: The people heard of the coming of the Jesus and, leaving the towns, went after him on foot. So, as he stepped ashore he saw a long crowd and took pity on them.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MULTIPLICATION OF BREAD: The first and obvious message is that God cares, that he is compassionate. Here Jesus faces a large crowd of sick and hungry people and he cannot resist caring for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. They had no spiritual guide and the Pharisees were giving them a false image of God.
In the gospel narratives, Jesus reminds us that all gifts come from God and he raises his eyes to his father and blesses the bread before breaking it and distributing it.
All four gospels underline the abundance of food to show that God’s generosity and compassion have no limit. They always mention that there were many full baskets of leftovers. Those who ate were over five thousand people the food that he blessed only five loaves and two fishes.
The Multiplication of bread pre-figures and prepares the institution of the Eucharist. When blessing the bread, Jesus uses the same words he was to use when he instituted the Eucharist: Jesus took the five loaves and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples.
At the institution of the Eucharist: Jesus took the bread, said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples and said: take and eat of it.
The evangelists want us to meditate, contemplate this mystery as a sign of his compassion and his love for us, as a sign of the Eucharist which was soon to come.