Next weekend I will be visiting upstate New York to participate in my nephew David’s wedding. David is a great human being. He is a teacher and high school Lacrosse coach. He and his new wife Angela will make a wonderful couple. There is a memory of David I will always keep with me, when I hear of Jesus doing miracles like multiplying the loaves and fishes in today’s Gospel. You see, it was way back in high school when David as a senior was playing on the lacrosse team in Bow, NH. My family and I were all in attendance, as it was the NH State Lacrosse Championship, and David was the goalie. It was a fierce game back and forth; David blocked every shot that was hit at him. The final score was 1-0, with David’s team becoming State Champions. And here’s the miracle: halfway through the game David as the goalie was getting pelted with wicked hard slap shots on goal. He stopped every single shot, and we cheered for him to continue. When the game was over, he took his glove off and his hand was very swollen. The miracle was that David kept playing through his pain because he wanted his team to win. He didn’t realize that his hand was broken! Because he loved his teammates, he simply absorbed the pain fighting for his team to win. In today’s 2nd reading, St. Paul teaches us that nothing, but nothing will separate us from the love of Christ whom we love in our neighbor. When we love this way, we can withstand any adversity, because the love of God in Christ will always make us become winners. In today’s Gospel, Jesus fed the crowds of five thousand men, not counting women and children. He performed the miracle of changing the five loaves of bread and two fish into an enormous banquet for feeding all those people. We can imagine Jesus standing there in the hot sun while in the field, and going around person to person, family to family, to make sure everyone could eat. Just like nothing could stop David from blocking all those shots at him to the point of getting a broken hand, nothing could stop Jesus from feeding about ten thousand people who were hungry and starving. They were not only hungry for the food, but also hungry for His Word of life! ~ Fr. John