Suppose that Jesus chose to perform the miracle of the loaves and fish today rather than at a time when there was no TV or Internet, a time in which talk and interview shows did not exist. How do you suppose the media today might handle the story? A safe bet might be that they would interview the boy with the foresight to have brought his lunch.1 He obviously expected to be out for the day and believed, like a real Boy Scout, in being prepared.
What might he say to a Larry King or a Campbell Brown, a Katie Couric or a Chris Matthews? Where would the likes of Rachel Maddow or Bill O’Reilly lead him? My bet is that they would be interested in the miracle itself. Society thrives on the spectacular, so it makes for good press.
But wait a minute!
When we approach the gospel miracles with our focus on the spectacular, we miss the point. Jesus did not perform miracles to impress. Besides, even miracles do not convince a skeptic, and those who already believe need no convincing. Jesus used miracles to do good for the actual recipients, and he also used them to teach. So what is the lesson of this miracle story? What does this story have to tell us today as we celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi, the body of Christ in the Eucharist?
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