The “lovely” picture of God wanting to quench our thirst and satisfy our hunger is part of that unfolding narrative in the scriptures which sees the Kingdom of God in terms of a great banquet. It links us to the underlying message of this week’s gospel – the ‘Feeding of the Five Thousand’ – which, in turn, points us to that banquet which we have in the gift of the Eucharist. And notice how Jesus uses the occasion of the feeding as a lesson for the apostles and for us, that we are called to be the providers. The instinct of the apostles was that this was all too much for them and that the people should be sent away to find food for themselves, but, of course, the Eucharist will become the ultimate sign and reminder that this is how we are to look after one another and be united through Christ with our Father in Heaven. Ultimately Christ will triumph over every problem that presents itself: “neither death nor life, nor angels or rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” May we have the confidence and the courage to go forth and proclaim that message to our troubled world.