If there is a golden thread that runs through the scripture readings and the psalm today, it is that God who loves His people desires to provide for their needs.

In the first reading, speaking through prophet Ezekiel, God invites the people to come to Him and to depend on Him for their daily needs. God assures them that He will provide them with what they require and much more.

The psalmist responds to God's love for His people by acknowledging God's goodness and by praising God for his compassion, and for providing all His creatures with what they need.

In the Gospel passage, Jesus, sensing the hunger of the people in the crowd, multiplies five loaves and two fish to feed the thousands gathered before him. Jesus realised it was not enough to feed them with spiritual needs but physical ones as well.

It is no wonder then that in writing to the Romans, Paul describes the unique love that exists between Christ and His followers. Nothing, whether in the physical or spiritual realm, can separate Christ from his people.

For us who are followers of Christ, the scripture readings remind us that God loves us tremendously in and through Christ, and as a result, wants to provide for our essential needs. The keyword here is need.

Often, we desire that God provides us with what we want, but God is concerned first and foremost with our needs. Thus, we can understand why Jesus has asked us to 'feed the hungry'.