One thing I’ve never had any trouble finishing is a meal. I am the Supreme Grand Immaculator of the Clean Plate Club. One afternoon, as a young boy in Puerto Rico, I finished three meals in succession after my Abuela, my Tia Evelyn, and my neighbor each offered me a good-bye lunch when I stopped in to say adios prior to leaving La Isla del Encanto.
But membership in the Clean Plate Club is not coextensive with that of the “Clean the Plate Club.” To this day (and to my chagrin), my progenitrix delights in reminding my progeny that nature had a curious habit of calling me immediately after dinner, especially on nights when I was responsible for washing the dishes. I mention all this because yesterday’s Gospel reading from Mark made me think of it and because that passage was one of the inspirations for this little finishing project of mine. Here’s the passage:
When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them,
for they were like sheep without a shepherd;
and he began to teach them many things.
By now it was already late and his disciples approached him and said,
“This is a deserted place and it is already very late.
Dismiss them so that they can go
to the surrounding farms and villages
and buy themselves something to eat.”
He said to them in reply,
“Give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him,
“Are we to buy two hundred days’ wages worth of food
and give it to them to eat?”
He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”
And when they had found out they said,
“Five loaves and two fish.”
So he gave orders to have them sit down in groups on the green grass.
The people took their places in rows by hundreds and by fifties.
Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples
to set before the people;
he also divided the two fish among them all.
They all ate and were satisfied.
What about this inspired me? It’s not what you might think. It’s not that Christ feeds the five thousand. It’s not that this pre-figures the Eucharist. It’s not that Jesus feeds the people through his disciples. It’s this next part that impressed me:
And they picked up twelve wicker baskets full of fragments
and what was left of the fish.
Jesus makes his disciples clean up after five thousand men. Dinner wasn’t finished until the disciples cleaned up. That’s the inspired Word of God, and the Holy Spirit wants us to learn from it. What it teaches me is that a good disciple of Christ does his tasks completely, even if they’re mundane ones like cleaning up after dinner. Also, if the disciples didn’t gather the fragments, what other proof would they have that a miracle had taken place?
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Rob, this is great! We will be discussing this at dinner in our home tonight. Thank you!
You misunderstood. They picked up what was still edible, because they themselves had not eaten yet.
It was not a matter of doing the dishes or cleaning. That is a job for women.
I don’t think anyone misunderstood. Why is cleaning up after dinner women’s work? I don’t help my wife clean up the house, we divide the chores and conquer together. And most of the time, I clean up the disshes after she has cooked dinner for me and Shiloh. I have no problem with that.
Gabriel, you must not be married, and if you are…well you must be newly married, and if you are not newly married then all I have to say is your wife must be a saint.
You have motivated me to wash the dishes and clean the kitchen tonight sir. I will tell Mrs. W that she has you to thank.
Great post. Can’t believe how many times I’ve read or heard that passage and completely missed the significance of the ending. Thanks for drawing it out!
But the coupe de gras…and they were satisfied. Participating in community life (family life or otherwise) is satisfying!
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