The Fellowship of St. Columbanus

Ephesians 4:1-6 St. John 6:1-15 In today's gospel, St. John gives us a subtle hint toward the context of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. In verse four he mentions that "The Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near." (AV) The miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fish draws on Paschal imagery, reminding us of the manna, but also as Christians of Christ's paschal sacrifice for us. The multiplication of the loaves and fishes Gregorio Guglielmi  The crowd brings this up in verses 30-31, a not very subtle hint to our Lord, "What sign shewest thou, then, that we may see and believe thee?...Our fathers did eat manna in the desert." (AV) But Christ points the gift of bread back to himself, "The bread of God is that which cometh down from heaven and giveth life to the world...I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger," verse 35. The feeding of the five thousand is only an image, an illustration, of the Eucharistic f

Jeremiah 23:1-6 Ephesians 2:13-18 Mark 6:30-34   When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.             To be among God’s people, to earnestly seek after Jesus, is inevitably to find oneself within some desert or wasteland.             A woman wakes up twenty years into a marriage, and thinks, “is this it? Really?” She makes the inventory of her life as a celebrated library, low-level politician. She counts the birthdays of her children. She remembers that her children now have their own children. Her husband snores. So does she. Christ the Good Shepherd Third Century             A man feels the stiffness on his shoulder, arm, legs, as he goes up for a shot. He knows that this is likely to be his last basketball game. He remembers once dunking on a professional football player during a scrimmage in college. Too often, he finds himself starting s