Gospel (Mk 8,1-10) - In those days, since there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them: «I feel compassion for the crowd; They have been with me for three days now and have nothing to eat. If I send them back to their homes fasting, they will faint along the way; and some of them have come from afar." His disciples answered him: "How can we feed them with bread here, in a desert?". He asked them: «How many loaves do you have?». They said, “Seven.” He ordered the crowd to sit on the ground. He took the seven loaves, gave thanks, broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd. They also had a few small fish; he recited the blessing over them and had them distributed too. They ate their fill and took away the leftover pieces: seven bags. There were about four thousand. And he sent them away. Then he got into the boat with his disciples and immediately went to the area of Dalmanutà.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

The evangelist Mark, like Matthew, tells of another multiplication of the loaves. Unlike the first, here we are in pagan territory and the language that the evangelist uses highlights this particularity. Here too a large crowd gathers around Jesus. The attention with which these people, despite not belonging to the Jewish religion, listen to the words of the young prophet of Nazareth is moving. Jesus himself, certainly moved by the attention they pay in listening to him, takes the initiative so that they do not go home without eating, seeing as it is now getting really late. Jesus communicates to the disciples his concern for that crowd as if to seek co-responsibility. But they, listening to their "reasonableness", reply that it is not possible to feed so many people in a desert. The disciples believe more in their own reasonableness than in the words of Jesus. How many times do we hear that we need to be realistic. Yet, Jesus had told them: "All things are possible for those who believe." But even if they did not remember these words, they could have thought of the miracle of multiplication performed earlier. Once again it is Jesus who takes the initiative: "How many loaves do you have?". «Seven» reply the disciples, as if to challenge Jesus. If he has them brought, he takes them into his hands and then gives them to the disciples to distribute. Jesus involves us in the miracle, as he involved those disciples. In fact, the loaves multiply even as the disciples distribute them. Jesus needs the disciples, he needs us so that the miracle of the multiplication of food that is enough for everyone can continue to be repeated. The fact that it happens a second time and in pagan territory indicates that the bread must be multiplied in every time and in every land.