God needs us to provide the loaves and fish with faith

By Shannon Roh
For The Catholic Week
The story of the loaves and fish is an awesome example of stewardship. This is the only story of Jesus’ miracles told in all four Gospels. 
Knowing all they only had to offer a hungry crowd was five loaves of bread and two fish, the disciples asked Jesus to “dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves”  (Mt 14:15). Jesus had a different plan. “Jesus said to them, ‘There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves' ” (Mt 14:16). In the Gospel of Mark, the disciples replied to Jesus, “Are we to buy two hundred days wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?” So the disciples gave the two fish and five loaves to Jesus. “Looking up to Heaven, He said the blessing over them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd” (Lk 9:16)
We are called to have the faith of the disciples. Miraculously, 5,000 men and their families were satisfied and there were even leftovers.  Just imagine what we could accomplish if we have faith and trust in God to amplify or multiply the gifts and talents He so generously entrusted to us. After all, stewardship is a disciple’s way of life and God is never outdone in generosity.
This makes me think of the victims of Hurricane Ida. Alone we cannot help all of those who lost so much, but together we can be the hands and feet of Christ to a suffering community. Through stewardship, we are called to be disciples and as disciples of Christ, we are called to be good stewards of all the gifts and talents given to us by a gracious and loving God.  
Are you looking for a way to bring Gospel stories like this one to life? Our family finally caught up on the online series "The Chosen." It is a fantastic series about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The writers of the series have taken some creative liberties in the character’s dialog but the stories are in line with scripture. Watching "The Chosen" together as a family and following up with the scripture is a great way to bring the Gospel to life. 
From the beginning, Jesus was showing us what He can do if we just have faith, trust in Him and believe that with Him anything is possible. 
God does not expect us to feed the 5,000. He simply needs us to provide the loaves and fish with faith. 
Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:34-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:1-14    
­­— Shannon Roh is the Executive Director of the Office of Development and Stewardship for the Archdiocese of Mobile.