Helen it's 11-14 October 2010.

Thanks for the tip, Brother Craig!

L

Many thanks, Heather. If I didn't find that doing the reflections each week fed me as well - in effect, is my own engagement for the week - I have to say I wouldn't be able to keep them up! Glad they help - that's the intention. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

Lance will need to reply himself, David, but I'm with him absolutely. He explicitly rejects the 'non-spiritual' interpretation of this as only a story about sharing and goes deeper to identify it as spiritual (in John's sense) story about our need for God that will motivate and enable us to overcome our slavery to consumption. Then we will create a fairer world in which the have-nots will have their share.
Personally, I don't want to let those of us who are Christians off the hook as lightly as you do; it was, after all, an energy spokesperson from the Bush administration who said 'We don't have to worry about global warming because Jesus is coming again soon'! In other words, carry on trashing the planet and don't worry about the human cost of what Lance calls 'ferocious consumerism' because Godwill sort it out by wiping the world out anyway.
The right wing Christian lobby in the US is one of the fiercest opponents of radical lifestyle change that will eradicate global poverty. And if we other Christians were as concerned about it as you are and as we ought to be, I think we'd see a great deal more noise about it- and more change.
I'd also agree with Lance about referring this to John rather than Jesus; John uses the miracle to create a theological story about Jesus as the Bread of Life with very explicit Eucharistic shaping. It is the only miracle in his gospelthat is also in the Synoptic gospels and, in John's hands, receives a radically distinctive shaping. If you read John against the other gospel accounts, this becomes very clear. Remember - this is John's version of the New Covenant; John's Last Supper is not a Passover meal but takes place on a Thursday, so that Jesus dies in his gospel at the precise moment when the Passover lambs are being slaughtered in the Temple.
It's not that what John presents us with here is not true; it is, because Jesus is the Bread of Life! The point that Lance makes is about the distinctive way in which John has shaped the story to make that point loudly and powerfully.
Thanks for commenting.
Blessings.

Thank you, Paulo. Yes, it's a useful resource.

Many thanks for the comment and encouragement, Morris.
Blesings.
Lawrence

THat's the theme I'm pursuing next week as the climax of the weeks on the Feeding, Brian.

I think the answer is yes; the important question, though, is 'how?' We need to pray for evil people - that they will be deflected from the evil they intend. And we need topray against evil people and the evil that they do. We nedd to do this because what they do is against God and God's Kingdom. It is also against their victims, and it is vital that we pray for their victims. I see no problem in praying that a tyrant will be toppled, or that a bad President will lose the support of the people who put him in power. I see no problem in praying against those who devise war and oppression and evil; I also think it's important to pray for their souls - that they will come to see the Light. Does this help at all? I'd be interested to know what others think.

Unfortunately, necessary! Blogs get hit by spam robots in huge numbers. Also, some people delight in visiting sites like this and posting inappropriate comments, porn links etc. But there's no censorship of ideas. Hope you'll continue to comment.

Thanks John!