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Pag© 2 • Faith Today
A Vision for the World
mountainsides and sloping fields
richly decorated with millions of
wild daisies. This winter paradise
for skiers affords the luxury of a
ski lift, even in summer.
But when the lift ends, the hik
ing begins in earnest. And just as
young children begin to tire of
their walk along a rocky forest
trail, it opens onto a grassy field
leading to the mountaintop.
You proceed along paths teem
ing with blueberries and raspberry
bushes — more than anyone could
imagine.
Children quicken their pace
now, invigorated by the fresh air
and a sense of adventure.
Reaching the mountaintop you
scan the valley setting. But, as you
contemplate it, something more is
happening — something
mysterious: It’s as if creation
speaks back, making its own im
pact, communicating a sense of
peace or a feeling of refreshment.
Is this what you hoped for
when you left home? Were you
hoping a few vacation days would
leave you rested...that you’d come
home with a different perspective
on problems...that you’d return*'
with renewed energy?
Were you hoping your spirit
would be renewed?
It’s no wonder that in its
sacramental celebrations the
church draws upon and
transforms so many natural sym
bols in creation: the fresh grains
bread is made of...the colorful
grapes that become wine...the
flowing waters of baptism —
riches of the promised land. For
you might say that
•The world has its own
language: It can speak loudly. .
•God’s world is irresistibly at
tractive: It exerts a powerful draw.
•The world possesses a power:
It can make quite an impact on
people.
By Katharine Bird
NC News Service
Across the fields of wild
flowers, he looked down on the
weary faces of the 5,000 who had
followed him onto the hillside.
Some, tossing their sandals aside,
leaned against each other for
support. Their garments, stained
with dust and sweat, showed the
effects of a long day in the steam
ing spring sun.
Beyond the crowd rippled the
waves of the Sea of Galilee, an
occasional fish jumping up to say
mockingly, “Come. Join me! It’s
cool here.” The sweet scent of
orange blossoms perfumed the air.
The people were fascinated by
this great teacher and miracle
worker. They were all talking
about his power to cure the sick
and heal the maimed. He taught
about the kingdom in simple
stories tuned to the life they knew
so well.
He knew the crowd was hungry
and thirsty. But he also sensed
that the people needed more than
physical nourishment, for he
noticed how each group closed
ranks against the strangers all
around.
“Where shall we buy bread?”
he asked his disciples. They
replied, discouragingly, “It’s
impossible. Not even 200 days’
wages would be enough to feed
so many.”
Hearing that exchange, a small
boy stepped up with a basket of
five barley loaves and a couple of
dried fish. “These were for my
family,” the boy said to the man.
“They are yours now.”
Seeing this, two adults near the
boy reached into their cloaks,
pulled out bread and figs and of
fered them to the people nearby.
Soon the hillside rang with chat
ter as people began to share food
with those who had none.
At the meal’s end, the disciples
gathered up what remained.
That retelling of the multiplica
tion of the loaves and fishes is a
favorite of Jesuit Father Peter
Henriot, who turned to it in a
recent homily. Recognizing that
this is only one possible approach
to the account, he said he likes it
because it helps him to focus on
the story’s meaning.
The meaning of this story —
that Jesus nourishes people so
they in turn can nourish others —
has interested the church in a
special way for many centuries.
Scripture scholar Father John
Castelot commented on the
feeding of the 5,000. Scripture
scholars would agree, he said, that
Jesus fed the people in an incred
ible and wondrous manner. But,
Father Castelot added, these
scholars don’t know in a detailed
way exactly “how” the multipli
cation happened and have specu
lated about it in a number of
ways.
Father Henriot thinks it is truly
wondrous that “people’s hearts
were changed” by this event. He
is director of the Center of Con
cern, a peace-and-justice research
and education group in Washing
ton, D.C.
Father Henriot noted that the
miracle is told in all four Gospels.
This shows that the disciples and
the first Christians recognized its
importance.
Long considered a foreshadow
ing of the Eucharist, it is a key to
Jesus’ vision for the world, Father
Henriot said.
“The scene is one of compas
sion: Jesus had pity on hungry
people and responded to their
needs,” the priest said. But Jesus
“saw deeper than their physical
needs. He spoke to their need to
grow in love of each other.” Jesus
satisfied their hunger to be “more
fully human by being more fully
loving and sharing their gifts,” he
added.
That vision of Jesus holds true
for today as well.
“We gather in the Eucharist to
be fed, not simply for our own
nourishment, but to go out and
feed others,” Father Henriot
suggested.
“Celebrating as a community
strengthens us to share our gifts
with others,” he concluded.
(Ms. Bird is associate editor of
Faith Today.)
By David Gibson
NC News Service
From the crest of Bald Knob
Mountain a panorama unfolds to
transfix and excite you. From one
end to the other, the valley below
spans a distance of some 13 miles.
From your elevated viewing point,
one mountain’s top yields to
another and another, as far as the
eye can see.
The first settlers in this valley
deep in West Virginia’s
Alleghenies must have believed it
was like the promised land that
flowed with milk and honey. So
they named it Canaan, after the
place the Israelites settled
thousands of years ago: “a land of
hills and valleys that drinks in rain
from the heavens, a land which
the Lord, your God, looks after”
(Deuteronomy 11:11-12).
To reach the crest of Bald Knob
you ascend first past forested