Whenever I read about Jesus either walking around or crossing the Sea of Galilee, I remember my time at Pilgerhaus, Tabgha. The city this guest house is located in is revered as the place of the multiplication of loaves and fishes.
One of beautiful aspects of the Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fishes is that, underneath the altar is a stone, where it is believed that the actually mulitiplication took place. You will notice that there are Byzantine tiles (dated from the fifth century) depicting the 2 fish and 4 loaves of bread -- can you see them in the picture above to the left? You should have scratched your head right then when I said FOUR loaves of bread -- the 5th one would have been the one Jesus held in his hands. It is a reminder to us of the Holy Eucharist.
This Church in Tagbha, run by Beneditines, is a beautiful pleace! The figurative mosaic floor (with more mosaics than just the basket of bread and fish) is the earliest known example of figured pavement in Palestinian Christian art.
When we share the bread and wine of the Eucharist each Sunday, let us be grateful for all the blessings of this life! Let us also celebrate the beauty that our ancestors found in living out their faith in a place such as Tagbha!
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