Today is the 8th Sunday of Matthew. The Gospel reading is taken from Matthew 14:22-34 and it narrates for us the feeding of five thousand men not counting women and children. Father Paul shares with us that this miracle prefigures the Eucharist and it confronts us with man's greatest need, which Jesus Christ provides. Man's greatest need is spiritual, intellectual and physical sustenance. Jesus Christ sustains us as Orthodox Christians through the Eucharist, His Holy Word and material bread. Three lessons we take from the Gospel reading are the following. Jesus Christ is concerned with the spiritual hungry. The same way He provided for the multitude by Blessing and breaking bread giving it to his Apostles then they to the multitude He does today with the bishops, priests and deacons. And if our hearts are restless due to life's cares, we can go Christ and be healed and fed.
