SPEAKER_00 0:02

When our Lord fed the multitudes, he performed a miracle, a manifestation of divine power. Over his three years of public ministry, he worked thirty three miracles. Some were of healing, for he had great compassion on the sick. Others were of quality. He gave sight to the blind. Still others were in nature he walked on water or calmed the storm. But on this occasion we have a miracle of quantity. He multiplied the fish and loaves, so as to feed the tens of thousands of hungry people in his midst. Now we're not told that he changed the quality of the fish, that for example they brought to him perch, and he changed it into salmon, or the bread was whole meal, and he made it into rye. Bobby are told is that everyone ate as much as they wanted. When they were finished twelve baskets were filled with the scraps. Why did they collect the scraps? Well because God never wastes his graces. Nothing's ever wasted. We might, but he doesn't. Some early church fathers who knew the Bible better than us saw in this event typological references to Christ Himself. We note that there were five loaves of bread, not six or four. The five represents the five sacred wounds in the body of Christ, who is the true bread of life. For did he not say I am the bread of life? Also that there were two fish, not three, which reminds us of the two natures in Christ, for he is true God and true man. Furthermore, this quantitative miracle of bodily nourishment reminds us of how much God does provide for us. The word providence is proper to God alone. So Latin word providere to see on behalf of another. When we are faithful to God, he keeps his eyes on us. He will provide for our needs, not necessarily for our wants. In response to that, some may say, Well, what about the poor then? Good question. This weekend the readings will focus on the poor and our physical well being. God has provided us on planet Earth with the means to care and feed for all eight billion of us. However, we who are the stewards of creation have lost our way. We are lost in his cosmos. For today the values of being, the value of the person is replaced with those of having physical things. The only goal which counts for some is the pursuit of one's own material well being, the so called quality of life is interpreted in terms of economic efficiency, inordinate consumerism, physical beauty and material pleasures, at the expense of the more profound interpersonal dimensions of our spiritual well being and existential ends. Have we forgotten today that we are only here to go there? Our present time is borough time, after all, that is running out with the passing of every day. So why is the focus on here prosperity and not there? Eternity? Because our media is controlled by the wealthy, and they are secular humanists. They only live for now. So sadly, the rich do get richer and the poor do get poorer. And also the problem is not overpopulation, as some globalists claim, for Holland is one of the most populated countries in the world. Yet it remains most affluent. No, the real issue is not population but distribution, the sharing of our wealth, of resources and technology. Now here are some hard stats on world poverty. Oxfam claims that the world's twelve richest individuals or companies hold more wealth than the poorest half of humanity. That's twelve versus four billion. Globally, one in five children, that's twenty percent, live in extreme poverty on less than three dollars a day in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Total billionaire wealth surged by 16% in this last year to reach 18.3 trillion. The rich are getting richer. Where do they live? Well, they live in the United States, of course, China, Europe, UK. 1% of the world's population, where these people are, own 45% of the global wealth. That is 210 trillion. Their frightening stats are very sobering. So overall, with regards the theme of God providing for us, let us never forget that we should never complain about what we have or don't have. Let's be content with our provisions for the day. Also, abandonment to divine providence, let God worry about it, frees us from anxiety about tomorrow. One person who lived this and travelled all over Australia, she had tremendous joy wherever she went, but lived in extreme poverty was Saint Mary of the Cross. She was born of Scottish heritage in 1842, and as a young woman looking after her family, she knew about poverty and frugality. In 1860, Mary became a governess in Panola, South Australia, where she met Father Julian Tennyson Woods. And several years later they founded the congregation of Saint Joseph or the Josephites, whose mission was to provide for those in need. They founded many schools and orphanages and placed themselves in the best of those who were the most poor in society. In our diocese of Armada, they have founded twelve schools, and they lived on in poverty, in hardship. And in spite of all this, the order flourished in the face of internal dissensions, attacks, and conflict. So Mary McKillop was well named Mary of the Cross, for she bore that cross, physically and spiritually. She suffered from rheumatism for many years and finally died of a stroke on may twenty fifth, nineteen oh nine. As her first Aussie saint, we honor her next Saturday. Let's keep her legacy and love for the poor always in our midst. Always ponder what would she say, what would she do when she when we confront people in need. One of my favourite sayings of Mary of the Cross is never see a need without doing something about it. Never walk by it, stop, and ask for some inspiration in God's divine prophetess.