First Reading (2 Kgs 4:42-44). The miraculous food which the prophet Elisha gave to hungry people was a sign of God’s concern for his people.
Second Reading (Eph 4:1-6). St Paul pleads with the Ephesians to live a life in keeping with the Gospel, placing special emphasis on the need for unity and harmony.
Gospel (Jn 6:1-15). Like Elisha, Jesus feeds the people miraculously, but does so even more astonishingly.
For this and the next four Sundays the Gospel readings come from Chapter Six of St John’s Gospel, the Bread of Life discourse.
The miracle described in the First Reading shows God’s concern for his people during a time of famine. The bread in question was the bread of the first-fruits, which was meant to be offered to God. But instead of offering it to God, Elisha, the prophet of the old covenant, gave it to the people. The left-overs stress God’s generosity.
Like Elisha, Jesus, the prophet of the new covenant, feeds hungry people, and does so even more astonishingly. There are clear Eucharistic overtones in the way the miracle is related. Jesus ‘took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to the people’. Such language is meant to remind us of what he did at the Last Supper, and of what happens every time we celebrate the Eucharist.
This is expressed beautifully in the prayer which the priest says over the bread at the Offertory of the Mass:
‘Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation. Through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made. It will become for us the bread of life.’