The multiplication of the loaves and fish amply fed the large crowd who had come impressed by Jesus’s miraculous cures. Dolores Dufner composed “We Come with Joy,” which tells the story of Jesus blessing the fish and barley loaves “till food was multiplied [and] bounty overflowed their want, and all were satisfied.” Philip was the one who spied the boy with a basket of fish and bread, and the song claims perhaps in the words of the boy, “A little bread is all we have, so meager our supply.” But twelve baskets worth of wondrous things happened, and we sing “A little time, a little love can hardly satisfy, But let us bring the best we have,” for Christ’s bounty would overflow and “all were satisfied.”

The song is simply charming, and I love having occasion to select it. What are the little bits of this and that that we can bring to Jesus? A smile? A phone call or text? A word of gratitude to a cashier? A compliment to a window-washer? A wave to a runner? A thumbs-up to a neighbor tending her lawn? Extra minutes listening to a child’s story? A donation? Volunteering? Who knows how many baskets of leftovers will stem from these little bits?