Everything that the Most High God creates, He creates purposefully. There is nothing aimless, unnecessary or superfluous in His works.

Why do some people move so aimlessly and indulge in such aimless activities? Because they do not know the purpose of their lives, nor the destination of their path.

Why do some people load themselves with unnecessary cares and barely crawl under the burden of unnecessary things? Because they forget that only one thing is needed.

In order to grant composure to the scattered human mind, wholeness to the divided human heart, unity to the disordered human forces, our Lord Jesus Christ from beginning to end pointed out to mankind one - and only one - goal: the Kingdom of God. The cross-eyed man, looking both ways, sees none! Ah, how aimless is the life of a mind that sets many goals before itself! What an insensibly divided heart! How powerless is wasted will-power!

Only one thing is needed - the Kingdom of God! Christ the Wonderworker strove to direct the eyes of all mankind to this one point. Whoever looks at this one point has one thought - God, one feeling - love, one aspiration - to draw closer to God. Blessed is he who has gathered himself in this way - he is like a magnifying glass, which, gathering a multitude of sunlight, can kindle a fire.

The words which the Lord said to Martha: Martha! Martha! Thou hast cared and fussed about many things, but only one thing is necessary (Luke 10:41-42) - in fact uttered as a reproach and a reminder to all mankind. And this alone is the Kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33). Everything that the Lord has said and everything that He has created is directed only to this point and only to this goal. Only at this point is all the flame gathered, shining on travelers wandering through the gorges and rapids of temporal life.

Everything in the Lord is purposeful – that is, everything is directed towards this highest, single goal – everything is appropriate and everything is necessary: both words spoken and deeds created. And not a single superfluous word, not a single inexpedient action! And what fruitfulness both of His words and of His deeds! Millions and millions of times His every word and every deed has borne fruit and is still fruitful. And how sweet, fragrant, and life-giving is this fruit!

Why did not our Lord Jesus Christ make stones into bread when the devil offered them to Him, but later, when the people gathered around Him were hungry, in the twinkling of an eye He created a huge amount of bread from a small quantity, so that after the meal there was more than there was at the beginning? Because the first miracle would be inexpedient, unnecessary and superfluous, and the second would be expedient, necessary and appropriate.

Why did the Lord not want to show a sign from heaven to the Pharisees, when they demanded it of Him, but countless times He showed these signs from heaven, these unprecedented miracles over the sick, lepers, demon-possessed, fearful, and dead? Again, because any sign from heaven before the envious and vain Pharisees would have been inexpedient, unnecessary, and superfluous, while in other cases it would have been expedient, necessary, and appropriate.

Why did the Lord not move the mountains from place to place and cast them into the sea? No doubt He could have done it—why didn't He do it? He, Who could forbid the stormy sea and the winds, could without any doubt move the mountains and throw them into the sea. But what was the need for this? No. That is why the Lord did not do this. However, the need to calm the sea and stop the winds was extreme, for people were drowning and crying out for help.

Why did the Lord not make the earth gold, and the ravens doves? If He could make water wine, surely He could do that. But to what? There was never any need for Him to make the earth gold, or ravens pigeons. However, once, at one marriage, there was an urgent need to find wine for the guests. And in order to help this need and protect the owner from shame, the Lord made water wine.

Only demons and sinners demanded from Christ aimless, unnecessary and unnecessary miracles. Just look at what foolishness the devil demands of Christ: to make a stone in the wilderness bread and throw himself down from the temple! And see how inveterate sinners, Pharisees and scribes, being eyewitnesses of many beneficial miracles of Christ, demand from Him also some sign, some aimless and superfluous miracle, such as, for example, the movement of mountains, the transformation of the earth into gold, and ravens into doves! That is why the Lord rejected the proposals of both the devil and sinners. But He never refused to perform a miracle if it was expedient and necessary for the salvation of people.

And today's Gospel reading describes one of such expedient and necessary miracles: the multiplication of loaves in an empty place, but not in a place where there are no people, not in a desert where there is only the devil, but where there were, perhaps, more than ten thousand hungry human creatures (for it is said that there were more than five thousand, not counting women and children).

And Jesus went out, and saw a multitude of people, and had compassion on them, and healed their sick. This happened after King Herod executed John the Baptist. Hearing of this, our Lord Jesus Christ departed in a boat to a deserted place alone. All four Evangelists describe this event, some with more detail, others with less detail. According to the Gospel of John, the Lord got into a boat in the vicinity of Tiberias and sailed across the Sea of Galilee, and according to the Gospel of Luke, He landed on the northwestern shore of the sea and went up the mountain, to an empty place, near the city called Bethsaida.