Matthew 15:37

“They all ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over – seven baskets full.” 

A word which comes to mind when looking at our society during the lead up to Christmas is excess. Advertising, shops, restaurants are all selling the idea of buying, eating, drinking, giving, receiving more of everything. 

This verse, which comes from the story of the feeding of the five thousand, we could initially see as a sign of God's excess. Seven baskets left over! Jesus is infinite in his power; the world was created through him – could He not anticipate exactly what food was required and not have any left over? Yes, of course He could. So, what the left-over baskets of fragments teach us is about God's abundance. He does not give us barely enough to sustain us, nor does He give us exactly what we ask for and nothing more. He provides for us abundantly. He sent His son Jesus not out of necessity, not because it was the only option, but out of the, in some ways ridiculous, excess of His love for us. By earthly logic it does not make sense. Sometimes this abundance means not giving us the things we ask for, because in the fullness of time, God's plan is to give us more. 

St Augustine describes God as “the fullness and unfailing abundance of unfading joy” (Confessions, book 2). In the depths of our hearts, it is this abundance of unfading joy that we seek. When the excess of Christmas consumerism has gone away, we are left with a sense of emptiness. But we can only be satisfied by the God's abundant love for us, as expressed through the senseless excess of the coming of the Messiah; and the needless left-over baskets of bread.

A meditation written by Natalie Dennehy, a parishioner at St Augustine's, Hammersmith

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