The vision of Christ Jesus.  The mind of Christ Jesus.  The hands of Christ Jesus.  Now we are the Body of Christ in the world, his eyes, his mind and his hands.  Through the grace of our Lord we are called to live in Christ and to have Christ living in us.  Only in this way are we living in a manner worthy of our calling in Christ.  St. Paul encourages us in his letter to the Ephesians:  “Brothers and sisters, I urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace;” (Eph 4,1-3)  Through Christ we live in the newness of life and we have a new way of seeing, thinking and blessing.  Our old self with its doubts, fears, anxieties and limitations has been crucified and we live a new life of faith.  As St. Paul affirms, “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me;” (Gal 2,19)  

    As Christians and disciples of Jesus, we live as children with our baskets filled with simple, poor and humble gifts that we are willing to bring to Jesus.  Like Andrew, the world scorns us and reminds us of our limitations, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?”  What good do we have to offer to the world and to its vast crowds given the needs of so many?  Is the gift of our faith still relevant in the world today?  We remember the prayer of Jesus, “At that time Jesus said in reply, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.  Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.”  (Mt 11,25f)  The wise and the learned are skeptics and cynics today, sowing seeds of doubt and spreading their dogmas of disbelief, turning our world into a desert of dissent.  We are the children of God, with simple, pure and humble gifts to offer.  However, it is those gifts that will feed a world hungering for life.

    As children of God, living in a manner worthy of our calling, we look at the world through the eyes of Jesus.  We want to see as Jesus sees. ““What do you want me to do for you?”  He replied, “Lord, please let me see.”  Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.””  (Luke 18,40f)  When Jesus raises his eyes and sees a vast crowd coming to him, he sees them with the vision of the merciful heart of the shepherd, “his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” (Mk 6,34)  Jesus sees the hunger and thirst of the people and he longs to fill their emptiness with gifts of life.  Jesus sees the possibility of a world renewed in the Spirit and living as one.  He doesn’t see the many, he sees the one, as St. Paul says, “one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in  all.” (Eph 4,4ff)  When he points out the crowd to Philip, Philip only sees the crowd as a problem that cannot be solved with their limited resources.  With the vision of faith in the Father’s love, the eyes of Jesus see possibility, the eyes of the world see unsolvable problems:  “It won’t be enough.”

    As children of God, living in a manner worthy of our calling, we have a childlike trust in the power of God to accomplish his purpose.  We are not constrained by the calculus of the world which counts, plans, measures and then insists on realism.  To the world, we live in scarcity and a little is too little and it will never be enough and so drastic measures have to be taken.  The crowd must be eliminated one way or another.  The statistics of the world feed our fear.  Jesus insistently encourages us, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.” (Mark 5,36)  To have the mind of Christ we must think in terms of faith.  “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You have faith in God, have faith in me.” (Jn 14,1)  We must have the mind of Christ, “For “who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to counsel him?”  But we have the mind of Christ.”  (1Cor 2,14f)  The mind of Christ imagines what might happen if we were to place everything into the hands of Jesus.

    “Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them.” (Jn 6,11)  In the hands of Jesus, the simple gifts satisfied the hunger of the crowd.  All were filled and there were leftovers.  “Not enough” was transformed into “more than they could eat.”  In the hands of Jesus there is no scarcity but only an abundance of life.  What might your life be if you were able to place it in faith into the hands of Jesus and allow him to bless it?