CDA spreads God’s love like loaves, fishes miracle

By J.D. Long-García | January 15, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

A large crowd, interested in Jesus’ healing of the sick, followed Him across the Sea of Galilee. Some 5,000 men, according to Scripture, gathered around the Lord and His disciples.

They gathered on a mountain near the time of Passover, but they didn’t have anything to eat.

“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish,” Andrew said to Jesus, “but what good are these for so many?”

So, after having the crowd seated, Jesus “took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted.”

For Fr. Greg Schlarb, the vicar of stewardship, the multiplication of the loaves embodies the Charity and Development Appeal. The CDA education weekend will take place throughout the diocese during Masses Jan. 31-Feb. 1.

“When [Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted] asked me to take on the role of vicar of stewardship, that was the image that came to mind,” Fr. Schlarb said of the story. “This gift [of the loaves and fish] goes from the boy to Jesus. And Jesus multiplies and then the disciples distribute to the people.”

Fr. Schlarb also called attention to Andrew, whom he thinks of as the “unofficial patron saint of stewardship.”

“Andrew is the accompanier,” he said. “He brings Simon to the Lord, he brings the boy. Andrew wasn’t going to keep to himself — he was going to share.”

With so much meditation on the story of the multiplication of the loaves, it’s no surprise Fr. Schlarb, also the pastor at St. Anne Parish in Gilbert, commissioned a painting depicting this miracle for the Charity and Development Appeal.

He asked St. Maria Goretti parishioner Kathleen Nageotte, a local artist, to capture the story.

“I was just thinking that the almighty God helped me paint because so many people would be seeing it,” Nageotte said. “I felt like the Holy Spirit was helping me all the way.”

While she doesn’t just paint religious imagery, Nageotte said the Church has always been a part of her life. She relished the chance to give back through her artwork.

“God teaches us to be good stewards of the many gifts He has given us,” Bishop Olmsted said. “The miracle of the loaves and fishes in John’s Gospel also teaches us that our communion with Christ increases the return of these gifts.”

When the food was in the hands of the disciples alone, it wasn’t enough, the bishop said. But when it was blessed by Jesus, it was enough.