WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit, amen. Glory be to Jesus Christ.

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Today's miracle, the multiplication of the loaves

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and fishes, is one of the most significant miracles

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that Jesus performs. First of all, it is recorded

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in all four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and

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John. John's is a little bit more extensive,

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and we'll get to that version of St. John's momentarily.

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But St. Matthew situates this miracle within

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this context. Jesus had just heard of the execution,

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the beheading of John the Baptist. This, of course,

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is an end of an era because John is the last

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and the greatest of the prophets foretelling

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the coming of the Messiah. So that's what's important

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about the way Matthew situates this gospel. Secondly,

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when I look over a passage, especially if I'm

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going to prepare it to share some thoughts with

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you, I try and look backwards and see if there's

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some kind of Old Testament event that prefigured

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this one. And then I also try and look, well,

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is there something greater and deeper than a

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simple multiplication of loaves and fishes? And

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I'm sure that almost all of you have the answer

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to both those questions already. This looks backwards

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to the father who fed the children, his Hebrew

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children, in the wilderness with manna from heaven.

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He also, when they were hungry, rained quail

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upon them. When they were thirsty, he had Moses

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strike a rock so that water in the desert would

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come forth from this rock. So God nourished his

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people in the Old Testament with bread, and he

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nourishes us today, the multitudes in today's

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gospel, and he nourishes us today as well, because

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he gives us a unique, kind of bread. And St.

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John in his presentation of this miracle unpacks

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this very clearly for us. Because Jesus tells

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the multitude, your fathers ate manna in the

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wilderness and they died. But the bread that

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I will give you will be for eternal life. And

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then one person in the crowd later on blurts

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out, blessed is he who eats bread in the kingdom

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of heaven. Because in the kingdom of heaven,

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looking beyond the Eucharist, the Eucharist is

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a foretaste of the kingdom of heaven here on

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earth. Looking beyond that, we are nourished

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by symbolic bread, by God's grace throughout

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all eternity. So this is a very important and

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reliable and authoritative miracle here because

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it shows how God is constantly taking care of

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his people, the Hebrew people in the Old Testament

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and the Christian people here in this world.

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So this miracle looks backward as well as forward.

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Momentarily lost my place. Yes, so that we are

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nourished in the divine liturgy with Holy Communion.

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I think sometimes because of the regularity and

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the frequency, sometimes weekly, sometimes more

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often. We don't think of the awesomeness of this

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event. Jesus told the people when he was giving

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his Eucharistic discourse, as it's related in

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St. John's Gospel, your fathers ate manna in

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the wilderness and they died, but the bread that

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I will give will be welling up for eternal life

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for them. And this precisely is this Eucharistic

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bread, the Holy Communion, that we receive at

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each and every divine liturgy. God also nourishes

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us with the sacrament, which is the Eucharist,

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as well as with the Word. The Word being, of

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course, the written Word who becomes incarnate

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in Jesus. the living word which came down from

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heaven. And we are also nourished by his word

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when we read the holy scriptures. As very wonderfully,

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Father Nicholas encouraged us last night at Vespers

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to read the scriptures daily. If you want the

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Orthodox Study Bible or any Bible, anything that

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is the word of God. particularly approved Bibles.

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And so we nourish, God nourishes us when we read

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the Holy Scriptures as well as when we receive

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Holy Communion. Jesus is the bread of life. He's

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the one who nourishes us, who gives us all the

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spiritual nourishment we need in this world.

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And the physical nourishment of food is only

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a preview of that fulfilling, that fullness of

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grace that we will receive in the kingdom of

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heaven. So our Lord Jesus Christ, the living

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word who came down from heaven, to him be glory

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and honor as he nourishes us. forever and ever.

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Amen.