“Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and gave them out to all who were sitting ready; he then did the same with the fish, giving out as much as was wanted.”

So much of what we do and what we consider as enjoyable in life centers around food. The good “Trini lime” is always at it’s best when food is in great supply.

All our major celebrations, whether it is a wedding, an anniversary, a birthday or an achievement that has brought great success for us, becomes a gathering for feasting. Even some of our major religious national holidays - Divali, Eid- ul-Fitr, Christmas – provide us with those precious opportunities to open our doors to friends and neighbours, and even strangers, in our own unique style of hospitality.

Food, on these occasions, is not simply what we eat. It is also symbolic of who we are as a people; a melting pot of religious, cultural and ethnic diversity.

The roti, the pelau, the fried rice and chow mein, the pastelle and black cake can be seen as “the loaves and fishes” that we must continuously give thanks for as one of the great gifts bestowed on us as a nation.

What we have inherited culturally and collectively as a nation reminds me of the little boy in this gospel story. Offering his little gift of “five barley loaves and two fish” this little boy surrendered all that he had so that an entire crowd of five thousand could be fed.

Did our ancestors not bring with them their loaves and fish of rich cultural and religious traditions? How can we use this gift to sustain us today as we examine our national issues and struggle to maintain a society that upholds what we declare in our national anthem?

It is a time of great testing. It is a time when Jesus knows “exactly what he is going to do.” It is our very own gifts that Jesus uses to sustain us. Those little cultural practices that seem so insignificant when we confront major controversial national issues can become our greatest asset in rebuilding those broken bridges between races and religious factions in society.

So very often I have witnessed the generosity of Hindu brothers and sisters who welcome and feed others in their communities during their religious celebrations. The same can be said of our Muslim brothers and sisters who give generously to the poor and the needy at the end of their period of fasting.

These practices are the signs for us as a nation that there are meaningful opportunities for us to foster healthy relationships among the various groups in society.

In this passage Jesus teaches us to use whatever resources are available to us. In doing so he reminds us of an underlying rule. We must always give thanks.

This is the code that we must use in our daily live. All that we have or own or possess comes from one source – God. As our source, God satisfies all our needs. Let us then be thankful for the many gifts we have received as a nation.

We thank you, Father, for the diversity of this nation – cultural, religious and ethnic. We thank you for all those wonderful traditions and cultural practices we have inherited from our ancestors.
We thank you for Jesus who sustains and nourishes us through his example, his teachings his words.
We thank you for people who like the little boy, bring their offering in order that others will be fed and for the disciples who remind s that we, too, will be tested
 Lord, we pray that all our leaders will recognise the little people in our midst who continue to offer their loaves and fishes to our society. These are the ordinary people who remind us that there is enough to go around and they are always willing to give the little that they have so that thousands will benefit.
Help us to remember that your Word cannot be owned or possessed, even though that word is precious to us. So, too, we as Christians must realise that your Word transcends all racial and religious biases and prejudices and that this Word comes to us as gift and not as something that we can control or manipulate as the crowds attempted to do when they tried to make Jesus their king. Amen

Gospel Meditations for July are by Dianne Diaz, a primary school teacher.