The WORD in other words (2006) by Father Jerome Cayetano SVD – University of San Carlos, Cebu
Monday 18th Week in Ordinary Time
John Wesley lived by a simple principle: “Save all you can, give all you can.” At Oxford, his income was $30 a year. He lived on $28 and gave away $2. When his income rose to $60, $100, and even $120, he still lived on $28 and gave the rest away.
When asked to report his silverware, he replied: “I have two silver teaspoons in London and two at Bristol. That is all the silverware I have at present, and I shall not buy anymore while so many around me want bread.” His life was a testimony that having enough is the true miracle.
The multiplication of the loaves (John 6:1–14) may be seen not only as a miracle of power but also of compassion and generosity. Jesus, who had nowhere to lay His head (Matthew 8:20), transformed scarcity into abundance through His compassionate touch.
But compassion and generosity flow from the deeper miracle: the awareness that one already has enough. Wesley lived this truth. Jesus embodied it. And Philip’s gamble—“Five loaves and two fish are all we have here” (Matthew 14:17)—shows that surrendering even the little we have can open the way for God’s abundance.
Sadly, in today’s consumerist culture, “enough” is not part of the vocabulary. Instead, more and greed dominate. Generosity often becomes tame, given only from surplus, rather than sacrificial. Yet true generosity hurts—it costs something. It is the mustard seed of faith that grows into abundance.
The Gospel challenges us to rediscover the miracle of enough. When we entrust our little to God, He multiplies it beyond measure. When we live simply, like Wesley, we make room for compassion and generosity to flourish.
The question is not whether we have much, but whether we are willing to give what we have—trusting that God will turn it into a miracle.
