Third Sunday in Lent, Year C

Yet Jesus said to the twelve, “You all give them something to eat.” But the twelve said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish lest we go buying food for all these people.”
~Luke 9:13
 
There is “food” of all sorts that we know we need. We need friendship and companionship. We need caregivers and care receivers—we need to care for others. We need each other. We need communities of mutual care and concern. We need deep connections that help us to thrive. We need hope that is built on something more durable than wealth or access to resources.
 
But there is also food “food.” We need enough to eat to help us grow and be healthy. Perhaps that’s why there is such a strong link between the “food” of companionship and belonging and the food at tables we gather around to find it.
 
Perhaps Jesus told his disciples to give the people something to eat—as minimal as they thought it was—rather than send the crowds away—because he understood the relationships between these things and the need for all of them. We will gather around tables ourselves this Sunday along with our friends from the Bridge Ministries community. We find that we are both sustained physically and emotionally, bodily and spiritually with these gatherings we have shared over the years. We look forward to being fed again this Sunday!
 
In order to accommodate our Bridge Ministry community siblings, this Sunday only, worship begins at 11:00am. Join us. There is a place for you here.
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings: 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14 † Psalm 111 † Ephesians 5:15-20 † John 6:51-58
 
About the Art: Swanson, John August. Loaves and Fishes, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56553 [retrieved March 11, 2025]. Original source: Estate of John August Swanson, https://www.johnaugustswanson.com/.
 
Artist Note: For many years I sketched, and tried to work out in my imagination, how the scene of the LOAVES AND FISHES, with its multitude of people, could be painted. I wanted this image to honor native peoples in many parts of the world; those who work the land for their livelihood, and have lived for generations in small communities or villages...
 
The people in my painting are wearing garments with many colors and patterns, inspired by the creations of the makers of cloth, the weavers, and the dyers of Central America, Mexico, and parts of Africa and India...
 
My image of LOAVES AND FISHES emphasizes and reminds us of the basic needs of all humanity. We all share the need for food and for providing for our families and communities. If we take the cosmic view that there currently exists enough of what we need to sustain the world; we urgently need to consider sharing the resources that have been entrusted to us.

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