During this Christmas season, we have good cause for rejoicing, for in Christ, we experience the full revelation of God’s love for us. God saw that His people were like ‘sheep without a shepherd’ (Mark 6:34) and chose to have compassion on us. Jesus is the fulfilment of the promise made by the prophets—that God Himself would shepherd His people (Ezekiel 34:11-12). He is truly the compassion of God made flesh.

In today’s Gospel, the topic quickly turns to food. The people are hungry, and Jesus works a miracle to satisfy their physical hunger. However, it is the people’s spiritual hunger that Jesus truly wishes to satisfy. This miracle prefigures the Eucharist, in which He will provide the bread fit to satisfy the deepest hunger of humanity—union with God.

Indeed, from the start, Jesus is presented as one who will feed the people. He is born in Bethlehem, which translates as ‘House of Bread’. Furthermore, He is laid in a manger, a feeding trough for animals—His body is thereby presented as food. He Himself is the true bread that satisfies the hunger of the people.

When Jesus chooses to involve His disciples, He is not merely instructing them to attend to the physical needs of the people but is also sending them on mission. They too are to share in the ministry of feeding the sheep. Likewise, we, Christ’s modern-day disciples, share in this ministry. Christ will provide the bread of life—let us call all our brothers and sisters to sit down; that is, to gather, to take, and to eat.

By Fr Michael Grace