In today’s gospel, we are told that Jesus had withdrawn to a lonely place with his disciples. He must have wanted some quiet time to mourn the death of John the Baptist, who was his cousin. John's death and his head being served on a platter, as though it was part of the feast, must have shocked them all. The evil spite of Herodias contaminated the feast which was intended to be a celebration.
In contrast, Jesus unselfishly made himself available to the crowd. There would have been abundance at Herod’s feast but probably the people that followed Jesus often went short of food. It was an unequal society, much the same as today. The disciples seemed to want to get rid of the crowd, shelving the problem of their hunger. Jesus challenged them to provide sustenance themselves, with the few provisions that they had at their disposal. They discovered when Jesus is present anything is possible, and five thousand were fed.
Jesus had compassion for the hungry people and fed them with bread and fishes. However, he wanted them to learn about the spiritual food he would give them in the Eucharist. As the fruit of his sacrifice on calvary, he gives himself under the form of bread and wine at mass. Like the loaves and the fishes shared among the people, the Lord’s Supper is a challenge to go out and share with those in need.