A true loaves and fishes story
Mark 8:1-10
In 1972 during a prayer meeting in El Paso, Texas, people read Jesus' words “When you give a lunch or a dinner, or when you have a party, invite the poor." The prayer meeting decided that on Christmas day that year they would give a Christmas lunch to the poor people who lived and worked in the dump in Juarez, just across the border in Mexico. The poor people in the dump used to separate the rubbish into various types, cans, bottles, cardboard etc and then sell it to a co-op which would in turn sell it on. The prayer group prepared food for 125 people on Christmas Day. But 350 people turned up. The prayer group leaders explained to the poor people that there was not enough food for everyone but they would share what they had. All 350 had enough food, the dump people even took some food home and then came back to take more home, then returned and took more home again. There was still so much food left over that it was taken to three orphanages. The miracle of the loaves and fish was repeated in the dump in Juarez, Mexico in 1972.
(In www.google.com put "Viva Cristo Rey Juarez" for information about a movie which tells the above story)
Dear Jesus, please help us to do more for the one billion starving people of today's world. Help us to feel sorry for them, just as you felt sorry for the hungry people in today's Gospel. And ... please bless our efforts, just as you blessed the loaves and fish.
A prayer before meals - addressed to Jesus:
Unseen Guest at every meal, you who multiplied loaves and fish.
May our hearts your presence feel, as we pray you bless each dish.
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Five and Two = Many
Just five loaves and two fish
that's all there was in the dish.
But when Jesus said a prayer
Bread and fish were everywhere
Just five loaves and two fish
Think of Jesus, make a wish.
Soon you'll find that what was rare
Can now be seen everywhere