Quesnel: Moral Reflections on the Gospels Vol 1

CHAPTER XIV.
225
find enough to give to the souls under their care.
He WxiO puts his trust in him, has a treasure which
is inexhaustible, and always at hand.
" 17. And they say unto him, We have here but
five loaves, and two fishes."
The acknowledgment of our own indigence is a
great qualification for the divine gifts, and is itself
one of them. What store soever of parts and know-
ledge a minister of Christ may think he possesses,
yet he has still occasion for mare.
" 18. He said. Bring them hither to me."
It is an instance of charity and obedience truly
apostolical, for a man, where there is a very great
necessity, to give his whole subsistence for the sup-
port of others, reserving nothing to himself but a
dependence on the treasures of Providence. Let us
carry our poverty to Christ, and it vvill become in his
hands an abundance of wealth.^
" 19. And he commanded the multitude to sit
down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the
two fishes, and, looking up to heaven, he blessed,
and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and
the disciples to the multitude."
This transaction is a representation of the conse-
cration and communion of the eucharist. Humility,
which is a principal disposition in order to approach
it, is represented by the people's sitting down on the
grass. It is just and reasonable to thank God for
good things already received, before new are asked
of him. The looking up to heaven is a token, both
of acknowledgment of having received all from God,
and of trust in expecting all from him. The bless-
ing of Jesus Christ is powerful and efficacious. It
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