From a homily on St. John's Gospel by St. Augustine
The miracles wrought by our Lord Jesus
Christ are truly divine works, which lead the human mind through visible things
to perception of the Godhead. God is not the kind of being that can be seen with
the eyes, and small account is taken of the miracles than which he rules the
entire universe and governs all creation because they recur so regularly.
Scarcely anyone bothers to consider God’s marvellous, his amazing artistry in
every tiny seed. And so certain works are excluded from the ordinary course of
nature, works which God in his mercy has reserved for himself, so as to perform
them at appropriate times. People who hold cheap what they see every day are
dumbfounded at the sight of extraordinary works even though they are no more
wonderful than the others.
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| Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes French late 12th-early 13th c., Victoria & Albert Museum |
Governing the entire universe is a greater
miracle than feeding five thousand people with five loaves of bread, yet no one
marvels at it. People marvel at the feeding of five thousand not because this
miracle is greater, but because it is out of the ordinary.
Who is even now providing nourishment for the whole world if not the God who creates a field of wheat from a few seeds? Christ did what God does. Just as God multiplies a few seeds into a whole field of wheat, so Christ multiplied the five loaves in his hands. For there was power in the hands of Christ. Those five loaves were like seeds, not because they were cast on the earth but because they were multiplied by the one who made the earth.
This miracle was performed for the multitude to see; it was recorded for us to hear. Faith does for us what sight did for them. We behold with the mind what are our eyes cannot see; and we are preferred to then because of us it was said: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.
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