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Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes - by LANFRANCO, Giovanni - from National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
. . . . . This Feeding of the Multitude, along with the Miracle of the Manna in the Desert, is a Pre-Figurement of the Holy Eucharist, and a Prelude to Jesus' Words, "I am the Bread of Life: he that Cometh to Me shall never Hunger: and he that Believeth in Me shall never Thirst". |
John 14:23 -- "If a Man Love Me, he will keep My Words; and My Father will Love him,
and We will come unto him, and make Our Abode with him".
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Meister Johannes Eckhart (1260 - 1327) is one of the Great Mystics in the Dominican Order. Eckhart expounds the
Eternal Mysteries in a style that is Fresh and Original in the Best Sense. Through the Vividness of his use of Imagery,
Eckhart directs us to that which lies beyond Image.
In 1985 the Pope John Paul II, said: "Did not Eckhart Teach his Disciples: 'All that God asks you most pressingly, is to go out of yourself - and let God be God in you'? One could think that, in separating himself from Creatures, the Mystic leaves his Brothers, Humanity, behind. The same Eckhart affirms that, on the contrary, the Mystic is Marvelously Present to them on the only level where he can truly reach them, that is in God". |
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We read in the Gospels that Our Lord fed many
People with Five (5) Loaves and Two (2) Fishes.
Speaking Parabolically, we may say that:
The First Loaf was -- that we should Know ourselves,
what we have been Everlastingly to-God, and
what we Now are to-Him.
Adam Possessed that Union (1) with God which we have
Spoken-of, and while he had it, his Capacity contained the Capacities of all Creatures. The Loadstone (Lodestone) Attracts the Needle,
and the Needle receives the Magnetic Power, so that it can also Attract other Needles and Draw them to the Loadstone. But if one draws
the First Needle away, all the other Needles come with it. Thus was it with Adam: when, in his Highest
Capacity, he was Separated-from
God, all his Capacities Deteriorated. Thence came also
Discord and the Clashing of Oppugnant
Wills among the Lower Creation, and
Deterioration of their Powers down to the Lowest. It is necessary, therefore, for all the
Creatures which Issued-forth from God to Co-operate Earnestly with all their
Powers, to Form a Man who may again Attain that Union (1)
with God which Adam enjoyed before he Fell,
and who may again Restore-to the Creatures their Forfeited-Powers. This is Fulfilled-in
Christ as He Himself said, "I, if I be Lifted up,
will Draw all Men unto Me". He means, if
He is Exalted in our Knowledge,
He will Draw Us unto Himself. In
Him, Human Nature Grew Divine, and Thanked
God and Loved Him with
Immeasurable Love. This also Befits
God that He Loves Human Nature
with such Great Love. I Counsel you, Sisters and Brothers, that you Grow-in
Knowledge, and Thank God, while you are in-
Time, that He Brought you out-of non-Existence to Existence, and
United (1) you with the Divine Nature. But, if the
Divine Nature be Beyond your Comprehension, Believe-simply in
Christ; Follow His Holy Example and Remain-steadfast. Convert Jews,
Heathens, Heretics,
Bad Christians, and all who do not Enjoy your Knowledge of God, and
are still Astray.
The Father and the Son have
One (1) Will, and that
Will is the Holy Ghost, Who
gives Himself to the Soul so that the
Divine Nature Permeates the Powers of the
Soul, so that it can only do God-like Works.
Just as a Spring, which Perpetually Flows and Waters the Roots of the Flowers, so that the
Flowers Bloom and Receive their Colors from the Water of the Spring, so the Godhead imparts
Itself to the Capacities of the
Soul that it may Grow-in the Likeness of God. The more that the
Soul Receives-of the Divine Nature, the more
it Grows like it, and the Closer becomes its Union (1) with God.
It may Arrive-at such an Intimate Union (1), that God
at last Draws it to Himself altogether, so that there is no Distinction left, in the
Soul's Consciousness, between itself and
God, though God still regards it as a Creature.
Wherefore let yourselves not be Misled-by the Light of Nature. The Higher the Degree of
Knowledge which the Soul Attains-to in the
Light of Grace, the Darker seems to it the
Light of Nature. If the Soul would Know the
Real Truth, it must Examine itself, whether it has Withdrawn-from all things, whether it has
Lost itself, whether it Loves
God Purely with His
Love and nothing of its own at the same time, so that it may not be Separated-from
Him by anything, and whether God alone Dwells-in it. If it has
Lost itself, it is as when the Virgin Mary
Lost Christ.
She sought Him for Three (3) Days,
and yet was sure that she would find Him. All the
while, Christ was in the Highest Class in the School of His
Father, Unconscious of His mother's
seeking Him. Thus happens it to the Noble
Soul which goes to God to School, and learns
there what God is in His Essence, and what
He is in the Trinity, and what
He is in Man, and what is most Acceptable to Him. Saint Augustine saith
that the Righteousness of God in the Godhead
and in the Trinity and in all Creatures is the Source of the
Chief Joy which is in Heaven. God
in Human Nature is a Lamp of Living Light, and "The Light Shineth in
Darkness, and the Darkness Comprehendeth it not". The Darkness must ever more
Flee the Light, as the Night Flees Day. Thus the Soul
learns to Know God's Will. Saint Paul saith, "This is God's Will, our
Sanctification". And this is our Sanctification, to Know what we were
before-Time; what we are in-Time, and what we shall be
after-Time. Thus the Soul Loses itself in these
Three (3), and Recketh Naught of the Body,
till it comes to it in the Temple, and Obeys it without Murmuring. The Father is a Revelation
of the Godhead, the Son is an Image and Countenance
of the Father, and the Holy Ghost is an Effulgence
of that Countenance, and a Mutual Love between Them,
and these Properties They have always Possessed-in
Themselves. The Three (3) Persons have stooped,
out of Pity, down to Human Nature, and the Son
became Man, and was the Most Despised Man on the Earth, and Suffered
Pain at the Hands of the Creatures whom He Himself Created-with the
Father, through Whose Will He became Man.
Thus was Christ till His
Death, and when He Rose from the
Dead then was seen the Most Despised of all Men
United (1) with the Godhead in the Person of
Christ.
