This picture was taken at a Church along the Sea of Galilee. It is the Church of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes. The rock that you see below the altar is the rock upon which it is believed the miracle took place. The altar and church were built above and around the rock, which has not been moved.
The mosaic on the floor just in front of the rock shows two fish and a basket with four loaves of bread. The absence of the fifth loaf mentioned in the Biblical account of the event that took place is intentional. When the priest celebrates mass, the bread that he offers (which becomes Christ's body) is considered the fifth loaf.
The symbolism here helps to covey this miracle story as a prefiguring of the Eucharist itself. It also connects the mass we celebrate today to the eternal actions that Jesus (fully human and fully divine) performed here on earth - in the very spot pictured above.
This was one of my favorite churches on the trip, and the image of the fish and four loaves is found all of Israel (on magnets, postcards, t-shirts...you know...tourist stuff ;-)
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