Help your students imagine what it would have been like to experience the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 people in the gospels. This story is filled with symbolism meant to help us experience the Eucharist in a more meaningful way. Read the story in Mark 6, Matthew 14, Luke 9, or John 6, then invite students to perform the scene.
You can copy and paste the script into a separate word document or you can download a PDF of the script along with discussion questions about the parable here.
Download the Skit Script:
Feeding the 5,000 Skit
Characters: Jesus, Apotles, Crowd
Narrator: Jesus arrived with his Apostles at a deserted place to find some rest. They were surprised to find a crowd of five thousand people there waiting for them!
Crowd: Look! It’s Jesus! It’s him!
Narrator: When Jesus saw them, he was filled with compassion and said:
Jesus: They are like sheep without a shepherd.
Apostles: Send them away Jesus! This is too many people. How could we ever feed this many people?
Jesus: You feed them! Philip! Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?
Philip: Two-hundred days wages would not be enough to feed them.
Andrew: There is a boy here who has five loaves of bread and two fish, but that is not enough to feed them all.
Jesus: Go and have people sit in groups on the ground. Bring the bread to me.
Narrator: The Apostles brought the boy to Jesus who gave him the bread and fish. Jesus lifted up the bread and the fish to heaven, blessed them, and broke the bread into pieces. He gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people.
Crowd: Thank you! This is delicious! Yum!
Jesus: Gather up the leftovers and put them in baskets.
Narrator: They disciples gathered the bread and filled twelve baskets.
Crowd: This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!
Discussion & Reflection Questions
After performing the skit, ask the students to discuss the following questions.
- How did Jesus treat the crowds differently than the Apostles?
- What lesson do you think Jesus was trying to teach the Apostles with this miracle?
- What connections can we make between this story and the Mass?
- What are some situations when you can help others even when you are tired or looking for some alone time?
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