The Gospel read at mass today is from John 6:1-15. It is the familiar story of the miraculous multiplication of loaves and fishes. About 200 years ago a movement called Rationalism began to offer an interpretation of this story that strips the story of its miraculous cause. That interpretation holds that what probably happened was that the people were so moved by love that they began sharing what they happened to be carrying with them. The message of love and sharing, while a nice message, fails to capture the real meaning of the event. The meaning is connected to the verses that follow these, which comprise the Bread of Life Discourse. It is absolutely necessary that the multiplication of the loaves be seen as a miraculous result of Jesus's will and not the result of mere human sharing, because the multiplication of loaves prefigures the institution of the Eucharist, which John then covers in the Bread of Life Discourse.