Words of Life: An Enduring LegacyНамуна

Legacy of life: a transformed life.

The scale of the problem facing the disciples was enormous. A vast crowd had gathered to hear Jesus, and he saw their need for food. Turning to Philip, he asked, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’. Philip’s response emphasises the impossibility of the situation – he protests that even six months’ wages wouldn’t be enough to buy each person a single morsel. What follows, though familiar, remains remarkable. In one of the few miracles recorded in all four gospels, Jesus takes five loaves and two fish from a boy, blesses them, breaks them, and multiplies them into a feast for thousands.

Small offerings in Christ’s hands become far more than they could be on their own. This is true not only for bread and fish, but also for our lives. Christian writer Henri Nouwen describes the pattern in this story – taken, blessed, broken, given – as central to discipleship. To see transformation in our lives and the world, we must offer ourselves to God, trusting that he will bless, break, and multiply what we surrender for the sake of others.

Jesus explains this sign in John chapter 6, revealing that he is ‘the bread of life’. He is the ultimate source of sustenance and transformation. Having tasted his goodness, we are called to feed a spiritually hungry world. As his followers, we are invited to bring whatever we have – our gifts, time, and even weaknesses – trusting that, in his hands, they can be used beyond what we imagine. Rather than holding back, out of fear that what we have to offer isn’t enough, let’s surrender all that we are to him, believing that he will bless, break, and multiply our offerings for his glory and for the nourishment of the world.