Sometime ago my wife was at a vegetable stall looking to purchase foodstuff to go home and prepare it. In conversation with the stall vendor she commented: “I have nothing home to eat.” The vendor immediately replied to her: “Madam never say that you have nothing to eat; you have a fridge, open it and you will always find something to eat.”

When my wife returned home she was in awe at what was said to her, as she related the incident. That response from the stall owner we both never forgot, as it was said with such seriousness and sincerity that it had a tremendous impact on us ever since.

On any day that my wife is uncertain whether there was food in the house, the words of the vendor would come to mind. She would go to the fridge, and sure enough she is able to find something to prepare.

There were those occasions we would have unexpected visitors and she would become anxious regarding what she could give them. I would be pleasantly surprised when she appeared with food for the visitors. After the visitors have left I would say to her: “How did you do this?” She would comment that she remembered the words of the vendor.

As we read today's gospel, it was amazing that what came to our minds almost immediately was that encounter with the stall vendor, and her poignant statement.

It was as if we were hearing Jesus himself speaking to us: “Madame, never say that you have nothing to eat.” And the response by the disciples: “Send the people away so that they can go to the village to buy themselves some food…..”“All we have is five loaves and two fish.” Jesus' reply : “Bring them here to me”

The message that we got from that vendor was to us the same message that Jesus was giving to his disciples that “God takes care of us,” regardless of the situation.

For most of us Christians in theory we often repeat that statement, but in reality our attitude or behaviour rarely demonstrates it. The disciples themselves showed scepticism as to what Jesus could have done with the five loaves and two fish, how he would have fed over five thousand men, women, and children.

There is another very fundamental lesson to be learnt from Jesus' response: “ Bring them to me.” Very often we find ourselves in complicated and even embarrassing situations, (not necessarily pertaining to feeding), which appear to us to be unsolvable as we try to find solutions through our own human activity with out any reference or appeal to God for assistance.

Jesus is saying to us today that regardless of how unprepared or ill-equipped we are, we can always present our situation as it is to God who will help us find a way out of what we consider to be an impossible situation.

Lord we thank you for the many generous and kind people in the world and in our own country, who are always ready to give and share what little they have with those in need.

We pray for the leaders of our country that they will be more sensitive to those in our communities who are unable to look after themselves, and that they will use the wealth of the nation to bring relief to the poor in our country.

We ask pardon for the many times that we have failed to call on you when things are not going as they should, believing that we can solve the problems without your help.

Help us to trust in you for you are a God who can write straight on crooked lines.

Gospel Meditations for the month of July are by Malcolm and Janet Joseph, parishioners of St Anthony's, Petit Valley . Malcolm is the co-ordinator of Caritas-AIDS ministry and Janet is a tutor with the ALTA programme.