Friday of the Second Week of Easter Acts 5:34-42 Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14 John 6:1-15

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer

The miracle of the loaves and fishes is a Gospel story that resonated with me as a child. I’m not sure if it’s because we drew pictures of loaves and fishes for class or the fact that a young boy played a pivotal role with his small basket of loaves. And in my grade-school mind, I’m sure the baskets were full of tuna fish sandwiches on white bread.

Reading the Gospel today, I am struck more by other aspects of this miracle. In the story of the loaves and fishes, people are hungry to hear his word and follow Jesus up a mountain. Jesus as a man must have sometimes been hungry and thirsty and tired himself. As his words nourish our spiritual sides, he also acted to nourish the physical side. Food and hunger are universal, something we can understand.

In my life, I am often hungry, but I think the hunger is more for the spiritual than for a tuna-fish sandwich. The Psalm in today’s readings offers a beautiful way to assuage that spiritual hunger:

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?