Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fish

We have been given this marvelous book for our week of retreat--it has many, many Scripture references and questions for reflection. Part of today's reflection is about the Sermon on the Mount---and the Beatitudes. I have a friend who likes to tell me that the Beatitudes are the 10 Commandments of the Christian Scriptures. Our reflection questions:

How is the life of Jesus a witness to each of these? What do the beatitudes say to the culture around us? Do women typically integrate these beatitudes in ways different from men?

I heard a homily once, on the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish---and the priest suggested that perhaps Jesus didn't just snap his fingers and lots of food appeared. He thought that it was likely that people had all brought food with them---and that there were also people who had nothing to eat. What if the miracle was that there was something so profound about Jesus that people were inspired to open their baskets of food and share what they had with everyone there, especially the poor? What was so attractive about Jesus, the way he spoke and lived, that called people to share what they had with those who had nothing?

And I'll bet anything that it was the women in the group who started the sharing, even though the women and children weren't part of the official count!