Bring Him What You Have

A Reflection on the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Beloved in Christ,

“There is a boy here that hath five barley loaves, and two fishes: but what are these among so many?” – St. John 6:9

One of the most striking and consistent patterns in the Gospel is that our Lord so often begins His greatest works with things that appear entirely inadequate.

A handful of simple fishermen become the foundation of the Apostolic College. A fierce persecutor of the Church is turned into her greatest missionary. A widow’s two mites outweigh the splendid gifts of the wealthy. And in this Sunday’s Gospel, five thousand men are fed, not from overflowing storehouses or the resources of the powerful, but from the modest provisions of a single boy.

In reading the Gospel account, it is almost impossible for the reader not to feel a sympathy for the Apostle Andrew. “There is a boy here,” he says, “that hath five barley loaves, and two fishes: but what are these among so many?”

The objection is thoroughly reasonable, isn’t it? Five loaves cannot feed thousands. Two fish cannot satisfy a multitude. Saint Andrew is not lacking in faith so much as he is simply overwhelmed by the plain arithmetic of the situation. Yet this is precisely where the miracle begins.

Notice carefully: Our Lord does not first create bread from nothing. He could have done so. He Who spoke the world into being by His word had no need of loaves or fishes. Instead, He asks that the little which already exists be brought to Him. Thus the miracle does not begin with a prodigy. It begins with an offering.

This pattern runs throughout the Holy Scriptures, doesn’t it? When the widow of Zarephath feared that her last handful of meal would be consumed, the Holy Prophet Elias first asked her to bring it. When Naaman sought healing from his leprosy, he was first commanded to descend into the Jordan. When the servants at Cana beheld water become wine, they first filled the water-pots to the brim at the Lord’s bidding.

Again and again, God asks that what little we possess be placed into His hands. And this not because He has need of it, but because we do.

How readily we postpone the work of God while waiting for more favorable circumstances! “I shall begin to pray when life becomes less busy.” “I shall become generous when I have more money.” “I shall devote myself to the Church when I have more time.” “I shall begin to forgive when the wound no longer hurts.”

Yet the Gospel teaches precisely the opposite. Our Lord does not usually ask first for what we do not possess. He asks for what is already in our hands: a few loaves, two fish, a little time, an imperfect prayer, a hesitant act of charity, the first trembling step of repentance. These things seem very small to us. Indeed, they are small. But the power of the miracle never lay in the size of the offering. It lay in the One to Whom it was entrusted.

This truth should be a deep comfort to us, and to every Christian soul. Many believers quietly imagine that holiness belongs only to those blessed with extraordinary talents, abundant resources, exceptional learning, or perfect outward circumstances. They look at the saints and conclude that they themselves have too little to offer.

Yet the saints themselves would tell us otherwise. God rarely begins with abundance. He begins with willingness.

The boy in the Gospel offered a meal. The Apostles offered themselves. The martyrs offered their lives. Each gave what he had. The increase belonged to God.

Perhaps this is one reason the Church gathers the fragments afterward. The twelve baskets are not merely evidence that a miracle occurred. They remind us that absolutely nothing entrusted to Christ is ever wasted. Thus no sincere prayer, no hidden kindness, no quiet sacrifice, no act of faith however small is ever insignificant when placed in the hands of the Lord.

The same Lord Who multiplied the loaves still delights to multiply the humble offerings of His people.

We need not wait until we possess more wisdom, greater strength, or more favorable circumstances before we begin to follow Him. We need only bring Him what we have today.

For five loaves and two fish remain insignificant in our own hands. But in the hands of Christ, they become more than enough.

26 July 2026