American Politics & the Multiplication of Loaves
It was the Gospel read yesterday in the Traditional Mass, from St John Ch 6, 1-15.
The people didn’t see it at first, the disciples gathered around Jesus on that fateful day in the wilderness. The five barley loaves and the two fishes. A small boy’s lunch, an impossible task.
There in the wilderness, with nothing but a vast crowd and their gnawing hunger, Christ lifted his eyes and knew what they did not. He already saw the miracle before it happened.
Because Truth—real Truth—cannot be contained.
And yet, for so long in America, we have been told otherwise. See some of my recent work to see why this is where part of my mind went yesterday in the middle of Mass:
The Wilderness of Lies
In addition to the more intended meaning of this world and oftentimes our souls being vast spaces of wilderness, our political and cultural landscape–how I write about it here in this digital space–can be viewed like this as well. It can be a barren place where the powerful have done their best to keep us hungry—not just physically, but intellectually, spiritually, morally. They have starved us of truth while offering cheap, hollow substitutes.
It’s the same Mockingbird media that swore Oswald acted alone supposedly has had a recording that indicates he couldn’t have been involved (of course we’ll wait to see if this story has legs at all).
It’s the same government that promised the Patriot Act was for our safety.
It’s the same liberal and conservative influencers both who told you to just “move on” from the 2020 election steal or at least allllll the mountains of available anomalies and evidence pointing to it.
They manufacture narratives like loaves filled with sawdust—meant to satisfy for a moment but ultimately leaving us empty, starved, and sick. And when you start to see through it, when we begin to ask real questions, when we start to connect more dots than a betrayed lover piecing together a web of lies and finally deciding to leave a narcissistic, cheating lover, what do they say?
There’s no evidence. There’s not enough proof. There’s not enough fraud. There’s not enough to overturn an election.
Same lie, different day. We brag on “smelling bulls**t with cheating, manipulative lovers, but we cannot apply the same lessons or thinking strategies to world affairs.
But here’s the thing: Truth has a way of multiplying, both the truth, lower case “t” of political and cultural affairs, and Truth, upper case “T” in the mold of the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
The Five Loaves and Two Fishes of Truth
When Jesus saw the multitude, he didn’t scoff at the scarcity. He didn’t say, “There’s not enough.” He didn’t tell them to move along. He told them to sit down.
Then he took what little they had—just five loaves, two fishes—and he gave thanks.
And the loaves multiplied.
And the fish multiplied.
And the hunger? It didn’t multiply.
It was satisfied, completely satiated. The people had as much as they would, and when they were filled, there were twelve baskets left over.
This is how Truth works. This is why, despite years of propaganda, the Kennedy assassination cover-up is unraveling in the court of public opinion. This is why, despite media censorship, the truth about 2020 won’t go away. This is why, despite controlled opposition, the real questions about the intelligence agencies are creeping into mainstream discourse.
Because Truth is not a finite resource. It is a divine force. And once it starts multiplying, it cannot be stopped.
On the other hand, political figures, media elites, and controlled opposition all want to ride the wave of awakening Americans—but only on their terms. They want to harness the truth just enough to placate you, but not enough to change anything of eternal value.
They want to control the revolution. The reasons for that don’t matter for me today.
That is why so many conservative influencers will let you talk about pronouns but not about power. That’s why corporate conservatives will let you complain about Biden but never ask who’s really in control. That’s why they let you nibble at crumbs of truth but never feast on the full meal, the full manna, the full truth of the Gospel.
Jesus Christ wasn’t interested in earthly power–a Truth the Israelites–including his disciples and apostles–didn’t understand even after he was in their midst after the Resurrection. It is a small piece of why opinions of the 1948 created State of Israel go down a very precarious path. Christ withdrew from that. He commanded us to do the same–because Truth isn’t a tool for political gain—it is the thing itself. The beginning and the end.
The Alpha and the Omega.
He didn’t need a government mandate to multiply the loaves. He didn’t wait for permission from the Pharisees. He simply did it.
And the same principle applies today. Truth doesn’t wait for permission. It doesn’t need the approval of the elites. It doesn’t require validation from Fox News or The Daily Wire.
Not even from Trump.
It just needs to be seen, spoken, and shared.
And once it begins to multiply, there is no stopping it.
So sit down. Give thanks. Be open to the bread falling from the sky, multiplying at the hands of a King that can restore everything to newness. Really, really give thanks. Pray in love and wonder at a God that wants to rescue.
Do that, and watch what happens next.
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May everyone named directly or referenced indirectly ask forgiveness and do penance for their sins against America and God. I fight this information war in the spirit of justice and love for the innocent, but I have been reminded of the need for mercy and prayers for our enemies. I am a sinner in need of redemption as well after all, for my sins are many. In the words of Jesus Christ himself, Lord forgive us all, for we know not what we do.
