In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
I have nothing to offer you yet I am concerned for your welfare. I know not what to do and so I ask God to act because I have not the means: “Lord, give them the spiritual nourishment they need.” I do this so that now God is responsible and I am not, I do this to pass the blame, I do this because I do not want to be the one to do anything—I feign concern whereas it is really apathy.
Yet in my misery and in my sin the Lord answers my prayer: He calls my bluff. I want to abdicate all responsibility, He replies to me, “you give them something to eat.” And I am at a loss! I wanted to say the prayer and then get on with my life with a clear conscience, He wants me to act, to serve, to bring Him into the presence of all: “you give them something to eat.” Despite my sin, despite my poverty, despite my unwillingness to be a Christian in more than just name, the Lord deigns to act through me. And I have nothing to offer to complete this task, this is too enormous for me: all I have is five loaves and two fish. But if I offer my poverty to the Lord, if I place myself at His service, He can work even through me. And He takes bread, gives thanks and offers it as food for the faithful (First Corinthians 11:23–26) then calls on me to distribute. “I am the living Bread,” says the Lord,
which came down from Heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever; and the Bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the Life of the world.
John 6:51
“For as the body is one and has many members,” says the Apostle,
but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
First Corinthians 12:12–14
For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one Body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
For in fact the Body is not one member but many.
For in Christ we are all called—clergy and laity alike, men and women, Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free—to become Bread to feed the world: “Send down Thy Holy Spirit upon us and upon these gifts here spread forth,” says the priest on behalf of us all, “and make this Bread the precious Body of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Since if we claim to be His Body then we must be His Bread, offering ourselves that others may have Life in His Name.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, our prayer is not to pass on responsibility to God, our prayer is to allow God to work through us that we ourselves may be the Bread distributed for the Life of the World. Distributed to serve, distributed to work, distributed to offer glory to God, distributed that Life may be offered to as many as would believe in His Name. (see John 1:12–13) And if we believe in Him, have faith in Him, remain loyal to Him, He will work through us that multitudes will be fed through us, not for our glory but for the glory of God.
So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’
Luke 17:10
Let us, therefore, work together that the Bread may be distributed, offering all we have to our God and Saviour Who has delivered us and is leading us to His Kingdom.
That we may offer true praise and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, together with His unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, I appeal to you by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brethren. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I belong to Paul, ” or “I belong to Apollos, ” or “I belong to Cephas, ” or “I belong to Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptised in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptised none of you except Crispos and Gaius; lest any one should say that you were baptised in my name. (I did baptise also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptised any one else.) For Christ did not send me to baptise but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
— First Corinthians 1:10–17
At that time, Jesus saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 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 blessed, and broke and gave the loaves 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. Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
— Matthew 14:14–22