Gospel Reflection for The 22nd day of June in the year of Our Lord, 2025
The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
Luke 9:11-17
11 Which when the people knew, they followed him; and he received them, and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and healed them who had need of healing. 12 Now the day began to decline. And the twelve came and said to him: Send away the multitude, that going into the towns and villages round about, they may lodge and get victuals; for we are here in a desert place. 13 But he said to them: Give you them to eat. And they said: We have no more than five loaves and two fishes; unless perhaps we should go and buy food for all this multitude. 14 Now there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples: Make them sit down by fifties in a company. 15 And they did so; and made them all sit down.
16 And taking the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed them; and he broke, and distributed to his disciples, to set before the multitude. 17 And they did all eat, and were filled. And there were taken up of fragments that remained to them, twelve baskets.
One of the nice things about being a Catholic author is the great variety of people who send messages or comment on my articles online. This morning, a theologian got in touch, making reference to this very passage. He posited an interesting argument with which I was unfamiliar. He said that one theory is that the seven loaves in today’s Gospel represent the seven sacraments of the Church. With the seven sacraments, the people are well provided for and the graces of God multiply beyond measure. With the seven sacraments, the Church has order and stability. As he explained, Protestantism rejects five of the seven sacraments – Holy Orders, Confirmation, Reconciliation, the Eucharist and the Anointing of the Sick. They accept only Marriage and Baptism (although many reject Baptism, considering it merely symbolic and the sacrament of Marriage believing in civil divorce). For this reason, there is great confusion among Protestantism, resulting in thousands of denominations that disagree with each other on matters of theology and doctrine, and all of whom reject the Catholic Church. With only two sacraments, they do not have all they need to sustain them, they have no stability, they wander in error and may collapse before reaching home.
Unfortunately, many Catholics do not fully understand or believe in all seven sacraments either. Too many fail to take advantage of the sacraments, avoiding confession, skipping mass and following societal norms in regard to marriage. Even as Catholics, we may fall into just as much error and confusion. We too, may fail to reach our eternal home for lack of spiritual food. There is no greater food for the soul than the Eucharist. But recall, that not by bread alone does man live, but by the Word of God. Jesus is the living Word of God and we find Him in the Eucharist. We also find Him in the Holy Scriptures. We encounter Jesus through His priests in all of the sacraments. We commune with Him in prayer. Through His Church, our Lord gives us all that is necessary for salvation. We need only take advantage of all He offers.
Judson Carroll is the author of several books, including his newest, A Daily Catholic Devotional, Reflections on the Daily Mass Readings July-December, 2025 It is Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5BHFZ7X
and
Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith. It is also Available in paperback on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK
His podcast is The Uncensored Catholic https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-uncensored-catholic