Friday, February 4, 2005 Fast Day
The Venerable Nicholas the Confessor of Studion
3rd Vespers of Meeting: Isaiah 19:1-55, 12, 16, 19-21 Epistle: Ephesians 1:7-17 Gospel: St. Mark 8:1-10
St. Mark 8:1-10, especially vs. 2: "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now
continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat." The Evangelist Mark provides two little clues which disclose that
the Lord's feeding of a multitude in Chapter six (Mk. 6:30-44) and this present feeding of another multitude in Chapter
eight (Mk. 8:1-10) took place on opposite sides of the Sea of Galilee - one side predominantly made up of Jewish
settlements (see Mk. 6:1) and the other side mostly home to Gentiles or non-Jews (see Mk. 7:31). To highlight the full
import of the two feedings, the Evangelist, in connection with the healing of a child, carefully records that her mother was
"a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth," (Mk. 7:26). The point is that our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ, cares for all
nations and He assumes that His Apostles and Church will likewise serve all peoples (Mt. 28:19).
How is it that Christ our God feeds all nations? In the most simple, even gross and physical terms, He provides an
abundance of food and sustenance for every race and people of His creation. Their diets vary in keeping with the multiple
climates, flora, and fauna throughout the world - from the high Andean or Himalayan reaches, to the polar marshes, to the
world's vast fruited plains, its tropical islands, and even across its seemingly barren deserts. But as the Lord reminds us,
"Man shall not live by bread alone" (Mt. 4:4). Our Lord knows that we need material food, for He became one of us and
endured hunger and thirst (Mt. 4:2 and Jn. 19:28). And He ever has compassion on the hunger of His creatures (Mk. 8:2),
spiritual and physical. Food shortages are most often of man-made origin, results of our greed, indifference, or lust for
power. Bluntly, scarcity of food largely is caused by sin and its corrupting effects on the politics, societies, and economies
of mankind. It was for deliverance from this ubiquitous famine that the Lord shared in our flesh and blood existence that
He might "aid those who are tempted" (Heb. 2:18). Yes, He is interested in our physical needs, but much more He desires
to nourish our souls emaciated by this deeper spiritual problem that creates so much of the world's hunger and thirst. What
does He say? "I Am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never
thirst" (Jn. 6:35).
The Lord our God does not differentiate among men as we are inclined to do. He comes to both sides of the Lake. "He
makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Mt. 5:45). His compassion is
for all - physically and spiritually. He has the power in His hands to multiply the resources of the world when they are
meager. When we cannot see how one could possibly "satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness" (Mk. 8:4),
He reveals new ways to those who have the courage to offer seven small loaves and a few small fish. He can enlarge the
wastelands of our hearts to provide shelter and commodities for all. We are limited by time, the materials at hand. He
knows no such constraints.
In every instance of giving, Christ Jesus reveals that thanksgiving and blessing are fundamental necessities. "He took the
seven loaves and gave thanks," and as for the "few small fish," He "blessed them" as well (vss. 6,7). Most noteworthy is
the fact recorded by St. Mark that the abundance was so great that they were able to gather up "seven large baskets of
leftover fragments" (vs. 8). Listen to St. Augustine of Hippo: "Be ye hungered; own ye these baskets. For those fragments
were not lost; but seeing that ye too belong to the Church, they have surely profited you." How richly Christ has blessed us
and provided for us - beyond measure!
The poor shall eat and be filled, and they that seek the Lord shall praise Him; their hearts shall live for ever and ever.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit!