Quesnel: Moral Reflections on the Gospels Vol 1

CHAPTER XV. 245
Jesus does not inquire in order to be informed,
but to make the necessity more apparent. It is a
gift of God to reflect upon our own indigence ; it is
a greater, thoroughly to understand it, to be con-
vinced of it, to be humbled by it, and to value the
grace of our blessed Saviour the more on this ac-
count. What have we of ourselves to sustain and
feed us in this life ? What have we not by and in
thee, O Jesus, and in thy church ; while those who
are out of it perish with hunger?
" 35. And he commanded the multitude to sit
down on the ground."
Every one of us ought to receive the gifts of God
in humiliation of heart, and in the repose, at least,
of inward retirement. Humility is a principal qualification
for the receiving Christ worthily. He
here gives us a representation of it.
" 36. And he took the seven loaves and the fishes,
and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his
disciples, and the disciples to the multitude."
We must return thanks to God, not only when
we receive his gifts ourselves, but also when we dis-
tribute them to others. God alone gives without
receiving; Jesus Christ himself gives thanks to his
Father, because the human nature, even in the only
Son of God, has nothing but what it received. The
supreme Pastor authorizes inferior pastors, and all
the hierarchical subordination. It is by their minis-
try and conveyance that he bestows his graces; and
whereby, according to his appointment, instruction
and the sacraments are to be received. They have
nothing to confer but what comes from him. He
it is who breaks the bread of the word, who gives