It was already very late...They all ate and were satisfied

Gospel of the Day (Mark 6:34-44)

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said, "This is a deserted place and it is already very late.

Dismiss them so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat."

He said to them in reply, "Give them some food yourselves." But they said to him, "Are we to buy two hundred days' wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?"

He asked them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." And when they had found out they said, "Five loaves and two fish."

So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass.

The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties.

Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to (his) disciples to set before the people; he also divided the two fish among them all.

They all ate and were satisfied.

And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments and what was left of the fish.

Those who ate (of the loaves) were five thousand men.

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Reflections:

"It was already very late...They all ate and were satisfied"

My Beloved, the tranquil night

at the time of the rising dawn,

silent music,

sounding solitude,

the supper that refreshes, and deepens love.

It should be known that in divine Scripture this term "supper" refers to the divine vision [Rv. 3:20-21]. Just as supper comes at the end of a day's work and the beginning of evening rest, this tranquil knowledge causes the soul to experience a certain end of her evils and the possession of good things in which her love of God is deepened more than before. As
a result, he is the supper that refreshes by being the end of evils for her, and deepens love by being to her the possession of all goods.

Yet for a better understanding of what this supper is to the soul - it is, as we said, her Beloved - we should note in this appropriate place what the beloved Bridegroom says in the Apocalypse: I stand at the door and knock; if anyone opens, I shall enter and we shall sup together [Rv. 3:20]. In this text he indicates that he carries his supper with him, and it is nothing but his very own delights and savors that he himself enjoys. In uniting himself with the soul he imparts them, and she likewise enjoys them. For such is the meaning of the words, "we shall sup together." Hence these words declare the effect of the divine union of the soul with God, in which God's very own goods are graciously and bounteously shared in common with his bride, the soul. He himself is for her the supper that refreshes and deepens love, for in being bounteous he refreshes her, and in being gracious he deepens love in her.