Certain memorable events happen in all of our lives that shape and form us, especially our outlook on life.
I was fortunate that one of these events happened in 1970 when I was first ordained, just 26 years old. I was serving in a new parish in a northwest suburb of Chicago. Sr. JoAnn, our religious education coordinator, contracted a rare blood disease and desperately needed blood.
So every Saturday morning, station wagons (remember those?) full of parishioners traveled to Mercy Hospital, located in a poor section of Chicago, to give blood for Sr. JoAnn.
One Saturday morning we were filling out our application cards to give blood when an unshaven, young man walked up to the counter and presented his application card to donate blood. The receptionist looked at the card and said: “I see the recipient line on your card is blank. I assume you are here to give blood for Sr. JoAnn.”
The young man frowned and said, “I don’t know any Sr. JoAnn.”
The receptionist then sized up how he looked. His clothes were tattered and ragged. It looked like he may spent the night on the Lake Michigan beach. “Ok, you’re here for the $35.00,” she said.
The young man was becoming upset and he said, “I don’t know anything about any $35.00.”
“Well young man,” blurted the receptionist, “You’re not here for Sr. JoAnn and you’re not here for the $35.00, who should be give your blood to?”
Without skipping a beat he replied, “Give it to the person in the city who needs it the most!”
Wow!! I was just 26 years old and I was learning firsthand what the Eucharist was all about. The young man was echoing the words of Jesus – to give his own blood and body to whomever needs it the most. His blood didn’t need a name tag.
In today’s Gospel (Luke 9:11-17) Jesus feeds the 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Over the centuries there have been countless reflections and interpretations of this event, this miracle. It obviously was a foreshadowing of Jesus leaving himself with us physically and spiritually after his death and resurrection as he continues to feed us and strengthen us today.
One of my favorite interpretations is that this was a crowd of savvy Jewish people who had been following Jesus and were now tired and hungry. Jesus takes the 5 loaves and the 2 fish from the young boy, he gives thanks to the Father, blesses them and then shares them.
One interpretation is that Jesus invites the crowd to do the same, to take whatever food they had tucked into their tunics for the journey and to share it with others around them. Few of the people in the crowd would have made the journey following Jesus without tucking some food away in their tunic for themselves. Jesus calls upon them to take what they have for themselves and share with others around them who are hungry. And they did, to the point that there were 12 baskets of food left over.
For me this interpretation takes nothing away from Jesus working a miracle of multiplying loaves and fish. Getting people to share what is theirs is often the real miracle in life. To have Jesus and his disciples simply doling out free loaves and fish to the crowd, smacks a bit of a welfare system. There is a big difference in saying, “You’re on your own,” vs. “We’re in this together.”
This is the lesson the young man taught me at Mercy hospital when he was donating his blood to whomever in the city needed it the most: “We’re all in this together.” Please don’t let what you see on TV or in the media make you forget this!
The young man not only gave his blood freely that day, he gave blood that was filled with goodness and love. Sr. JoAnn is still alive, well, and busy serving the Lord 55 years later!
This is the lesson Jesus teaches me every day when he feeds me with himself in the Eucharist: “We’re all in this together, Laz!”
What comes to YOUR mind and heart when YOU listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 25: “I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was naked, I was in prison….You did it to me”? How do these words of Jesus affect YOUR attitudes and YOUR actions today?
JESUS LOVES THE OUTCASTS. JESUS LOVES THE ONES THE WORLD JUST LOVES TO HATE!!
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My Commentary:
This powerful story offers my deep and personal reflection on what it means to live out the Gospel — not just with words, but with action, selflessness, and love. The young man who came to donate blood without even knowing the recipient models for us the very heart of Christian charity: “Give it to the person who needs it the most.” Without conditions. Without expecting recognition. Without needing to know the details. Just give.
At the heart of this story lies the Eucharist. Jesus gave His body and blood freely for the life of the world, not asking who deserved it more, but offering Himself to all who need healing, forgiveness, and life. The Eucharist is not limited by names or worthiness. It is pure, undeserved love poured out for everyone who hungers.
The reflection on the multiplication of the loaves and fish reminds us that the real miracle often happens when people move from self-preservation to self-giving. The greatest miracle Jesus performs is not just the multiplication of food but the multiplication of hearts willing to share. He transforms crowds of individuals into a community where all are fed because each one opens their hands to share what they have.
This is exactly what the young man in the hospital did. He acted as part of the Body of Christ without even realizing it. His simple, selfless act echoes the words of Jesus in Matthew 25: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
In a world that often encourages us to protect what’s ours, Jesus gently calls us back to a different way — to see every person as part of us, as family, as someone worthy of love and care. Because, as I truly believe and feel: “We’re all in this together.”
My Reflection:
Lord Jesus,
You gave Your very body and blood for all of us — not because we were worthy, but because we were in need. You see us not as strangers, but as brothers and sisters. You call us to love one another as You have loved us.
Teach me, Lord, to open my heart like the young man at Mercy Hospital — to give freely, to love without conditions, to serve whoever needs it the most, even when I do not know their name. Let my faith not be a matter of words only, but of daily choices to serve, to give, to share.
Help me to hear Your voice in Matthew 25, calling me to recognize You in the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the stranger, the sick, and the imprisoned. Change my heart, Lord, so that I see every person as part of Your family — as my family.
May the Eucharist I receive nourish me not only spiritually, but transform me into someone who gives my time, my love, my very self to others. Because, Lord, as You remind us: we are all in this together. Amen.
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