Even now we are being told that we are not back to normal and further money is needed to help people who struggle financially.

Whether we like it or not such questions will always dominate our political and economic debate. The sad thing is that it will always be the poor and those on a financial knife-edge who are most affected.

This should make us pause and think, for the quality and greatness of a society is measured by how it cares for its most needy members.

In today’s version from Saint Matthew the disciples said,

‘All we have with us is five loaves and two fish.’

They did not have very much. In fact it would have probably been insufficient even for the disciples and they seemed to have no intention of sharing the little they had with others. After the people sat down, Jesus took the loaves and fish, and blessed them. He then gave them back for the disciples to hand out. 

Imagine yourself in that situation. A prayer has been said and you are given back the small amount of food that you brought. At this stage, there has been no multiplication of loaves; no miraculous appearance of more fish.

Jesus tells you to hand out the little you have to thousands; an impossible task.

We are so used to this story that we can easily miss the huge act of faith made by those who began passing around food broken off from five loaves and two fish.

In the nineteenth century it was suggested that what actually happened was that the crowd opened bags and containers and produced their own food. The explanation is that it was a kind of huge shared table.

If you want to believe this rationalising of the miraculous that is your choice but it really misses the point of the story. It misses the point of why Matthew and the other Gospel writers told it in the first place.

Not only does the evangelist tell us that Jesus could provide in situations where there were insufficient resources but he wants us to realise that Jesus was challenging the disciples’ faith: not faith in the generosity of people to stump up their own food but in Jesus Christ. 

We can make up our minds in advance deciding that wonders do not happen and so when we read of them we will explain them away. In part, Matthew relates the story to ask whether we have a similar openness and faith in Jesus as those disciples had.

But what about the needs of our own society and the questions of who provides and who pays? If we are compassionate and decent we see part of the answer to be that we are all called to dig deep to help others. 

This may seem to be like that secular explanation of the Gospel miracle. But there is another truth to recognise.

No matter how much we provide there will always be a greater need. To provide for every difficulty and for every person in need is beyond the means of the richest individuals and even the most powerful nations on earth. 

So really the question is not so much ‘who will pay?’ as ‘how can we pay for it all?’ 

We have to be careful. Because the problem is beyond us does not mean we should just give up.