1 1st Moment: A word that guides us. 1.

Those who take part in the struggles in the rural areas, especially in the Via Campesina, the MST (Landless movement) and the Pastoral da Terra (Pastoral Land Commission) are used to hearing the word mystic. I think it would be interesting to do this talk from this point. Understood in its most ample sense mystic is the strength that empowers us on this journey. It is the energy that keeps us struggling on, even when it means risking our own lives. It is the strength that was present in Chico Mendes, Margarida Alves, Raimundo Ferreira Lima (Gringo), Sister Dorothy Stang and in so many men and women who have given up their lives for the construction of a another possible world. 2. In order to keep this energy flowing, the movements organize moments called mystics. It is a place where there is an integrating exercise, guaranteeing the union of all those involved and strengthening the identity of the group, encouraging them continue. In the midst of the struggle and of the tackling of the system the mystic sustains each and every one of us. 3. As this encounter was supported by Christian organizations, Anglican Alliance and the Anglican Diocese of the Amazon, we felt the need to present a mystic that motivates us to carry it out. We did not get involved with the issue of food security by chance, but because we believe that as we engage in the transformation of unjust structures and build equal relations, we are fulfilling to the demands of the Gospel of Jesus of Nazareth. 4. My intention is to talk to you about a well-known narrative, present in all four gospels, the story of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. I am sure you all know this story and I believe tha t in the context of food security it has a lot to teach us and it presents a clear proposal of the realization of Christs great dream, which we Christians call the Kingdom of God. (Mark 6:3044). 2nd Moment: Conversation about the narrative. 5. It is not by chance that the author of the gospel describes, just before this narrative, the banquet scene that took place in Herods palace (Mark 6:17-28). This is the banquet of the powerful, of those who dominate the people. The plot shows us that in the palaces we find the abuse of power, incest, corruption and violence. It is in this famous party that the popular prophet, John the Baptist, is cruelly murdered, beheaded in prison. Then, thoughtfully, the author presents an alternative banquet, the sharing of the loaves and the fish, the peoples banquet of solidarity where little becomes much and attends the needs of everyone. (Mark 6:42). 6. This link becomes clear when Jesus contemplates the crowd and is overcome with compassion. The word compassion has a very strong meaning in the original language of the gospels. To have compassion is to be moved deep inside, to empathize with the condition of the other person and show solidarity towards him/her. In Marks Gospel we often see Jesus overcome with this feeling. We can affirm that, in fact, this compassion already appears in the experience of the Hebrew people in Egypt, when the text says that God heard the cry of the oppressed and came down to free them (Exodus 3:7-8). God feels compassion for his people. 7. The motive for Jesus sentiment is central to the understanding of the text. The gospel says that he felt compassion because the people were like sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6:34). The word shepherd in the Bible refers to all the leaders of the people. Now, the atrocities committed by Herod in his banquet make it clear that the people had no guide in whom they could trust. As the prophet Ezekiel said, the leaders of the people are like the shepherds who only look out for themselves and who dominate with violence (Ezekiel 34:2,4). 8. We need to remember that at that time the Jews were dominated by the Romans and the consequences of this were felt in all aspects of life. Israels economic base was Family farming,

2 since the time of the tribes, but now the land that was once a collective inheritance, was now property the property of strangers (Mathew 21:33-43). Without their land (Luke 8:5-18) only a few were lucky enough to find something to do (Mathew 20:1-16), so they submitted themselves to all kinds of work. And we should also mention the taxes demanded by the Romans and the elite Israelites associated with them, normally collected by corrupt employees who the gospels refer to as publicans (Luke 19:8), which lead the people into a situation of extreme poverty and even slavery the debtors, as well as being imprisoned, were obliged to give up their children as slaves to pay their debts. (Mathew 18:23-30). 9. As I mentioned before, I think that the majority here knows well this Bible passage from the gospels, but perhaps has never asked why there were so many people looking for Jesus in such a desert region, in the middle of nowhere. The gospel we read says: there were five thousand men and Mathew adds: as well as women and children (Mathew 4:21). They were there because they had nothing else to do, they had no more land for planting and no job. 10. Obviously, there were those who didnt agree with this situation: some assaulted the Roman carriages, others were revolutionaries, like Barabbas (Mark 15:7) or Judas Iscariot (Mark 3:19). And there are also those who clung to the hope of a liberator, a messiah, who would lead Israel in a new process of liberation. And here the words and attitudes of Jesus become more comprehensive, as we put ourselves in the place of those people. Jesus declares himself to be the new shepherd who has come to guide his people, as Moses did in Egypt. 3rd Moment: A proposal. 11. But, after all, what was Jesus intention? It is not difficult to see what the prophet of Galilee is proposing. Jesus banquet makes a definitive break from the palace. Far from the luxurious buildings, from the rich and privileged people, his guests meet in the open air and sit on the ground, on the grass. That was how the poor farmers did things. You cant just write an agreement, there needs to be a clean break from the Roman invader and the Jewish oligarchies. This is the motive behind Jesus famous phrase: So give back to Give to Caesar what is Caesars, and to God what is Gods (Matthew 22:21). 12. However, in order to do all this there needs to be organization, which is why they sit in groups of hundreds and fifties (Mark 6:40) a reference to a past experience, when the people had to organize themselves in Egypt under the leadership of Moses and also when they occupied the promised land, dividing into tribal units. A disorganized people is unable to move forward with their struggles. Remembering their past of popular organization was a constant resource in Jewish mysticism. The people could confront the palace, but would have to do so in an organized manner. The crowd is no longer just a mass, but a people that is organized in hopeful solidarity, according to the words of a popular Brazilian song. 13. Obviously, this narrative also reminds us of the Eucharistic service. That is basically what it is, a prophetic gesture encouraging us to fight for a world of sharing. Production should not be thought of us a means to gain profits and pay taxes, but should be an instrument for feeding everyone, an instrument for the construction of a fairer society. Accumulation is condemned. Everyone should have enough to live on. This was the message of the prophets when they emphasized poverty and it continued with Jesus of Nazareth: Seek justice, seek humility (Zephaniah 2:1-3). This is why the sermon on the mount affirms: Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven! (Luke 6:20). You cannot serve both God and Money, capitalist accumulation (Luke 16:13). 14. Jesus movement followed this from the beginning. The first communities began organizing themselves in small revolutionary groups that were experiencing a new way of making politics. The Greeks called their decision-making assemblies ekklesia, with the equivalent in English being

3 church. But in these assemblies only men over 25 who were free and owned land were allowed to take part, according to the apostle Paul: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). This is why I say that our communities in the Amazon should change back to the times of the apostles and become small groups where they may experience the proposal of the Kingdom of God, Cabana1 groups. 15. Also, from the very beginning, the Christian communities lived an experience of a new economy, as the text in the book of Acts of the Apostles says that All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. (Acts 2:44-45). We need to live a different economy from that proposed by the capitalist system. 4th Moment: Tackling the unfair system 16. The statistics tell us that 870 million people go hungry in the world. Unfortunately we know that there is enough food for everyone. As it is with everything in the system we live in, there is no lack of food, the problem is that is badly distributed. Apart from this one third of the food produced around the world is wasted, which is something like 750 billion dollars annually in wasted food. 17. More than ever, a deep structural change in society has become imperative, since we live in a situation of institutionalised poverty, as the Roman Catholic bishops confirmed when they met in Puebla last century. That is, poverty is not an accident, but the result of the form of organization of the capitalist society; the result of the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. We need to be clear that hunger is a systemic issue, in order to fight against it. 18. The narrative of the multiplication of the bread and the fish motivates us to work on the construction of a fairer world, guided by the distribution of this wealth with criteria of justice and equality. This is why Mary, the mother of Jesus, sang two thousand years ago: And Mary said: My soul glorifies the Lord.. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:46, 51-53). We hope that our encounter today contributes in some way towards the construction of another possible world.

From the word Cabanagem a social revolt that occurred from18351840, in the then-province of Gro-Par, Brazil. Among the causes for this revolt were the extreme poverty of the Paraense people and the political irrelevance to which the province was relegated after the independence of Brazil. The name "Cabanagem" refers to the cabanas, a type of hut used by the poorest people living next to streams, principally mestizos (mixed race), freed slaves, and indigenous people.