SHARE WHAT’S OURS WITH THE ONES IN NEED
The two most troublesome problems in the villages of Galilee were: hunger and debts. This is what most caused Jesus to suffer. When his disciples asked him to teach them to pray, for Jesus these two petitions came from deep in his heart: «Father, give us today our daily bread»; «Father, forgive us our debts, just as we also forgive those who are indebted to us».
What could they do against the hunger that was destroying them and the debts that brought them to lose their lands? Jesus clearly saw God’s will: share the little they had and forgive one another mutually our debts. This is the only way a new world would be born.
Christian sources have preserved the memory of a memorable meal with Jesus. He was out in the countryside and many people joined him. It’s hard to reconstruct what happened. The memory that remained went like this: among the people they only gathered «five loaves of bread and two fish», but they shared what little they had and with Jesus’ blessing, everyone was able to eat.
At the beginning of the story, we find a dialogue that’s very telling. When they saw that the people were hungry, the disciples propose the solution that’s most comfortable and least committed; «let them go to the surrounding villages and buy themselves something to eat»; let each one resolve their problems as they can. Jesus answers them by calling them to responsibility; «Give them something to eat yourselves»; don’t leave the hungry abandoned to their fate.
We mustn’t forget it. If we go about with out backs turned to the hungry of the world, we lose our Christian identity; we aren’t faithful to Jesus; in our Eucharistic meals their meaning and their horizon will be lacking, they’ll be lacking compassion. How to transform a religion like ours into a movement of followers who are more faithful to Jesus?
The first thing is to not lose our fundamental perspective: let ourselves be affected more and more by the suffering of those who don’t know what it is like to live with bread and dignity. The second thing is to commit ourselves in small, concrete, modest, partial initiatives, that teach us to share and identify us more with Jesus’ style.
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
