Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Of Things Divine: We Are So Blessed, Ordinary Time, 17
The crowd has come a long way to hear Jesus speak and expound on the Law of Moses. Now they find themselves in a deserted place without food and are feeling the pangs of hunger. In his compassion, Jesus inquires about the food supply on hand and discovers all that is available are five barley loaves and two fishes in the possession of a young boy.
We can easily picture this youth’s bewilderment when asked to give up all that he has, to part with the only food that is available. His sacrifice, however, is well rewarded when he sees Jesus feed the multitude with the food he has provided. Through the power and the prayer of the Lord the impossible become possible. What is given to Jesus as a sacrifice is given back by him totally transformed. The crowd is fed, symbolizing that Jesus has come to give life to all people.
One message we can take to heart from this miraculous feeding of the crowd is the importance of sharing what we have with those who are less well off, especially those who are starving. How ironic that we would have been visited just a week ago by Fr. Bob, who told us of the need for our help in feeding the poor of our own hemisphere.
The Lord asks us to give ourselves and our resources generously to him, to place what we have and what we are at his disposal. Not many of us have experienced the pangs of real hunger which darkens the mind and forces an honest person to become a thief. Our problem is that we have too much food. The inclination to selfishness is strong in all of us. The more we have the more we want. Yet, there is food enough in the world for the needs of all people but not for people’s greed.
Two years ago, a young priest came to work with me at Holy Rosary. Fr. Mathew was from Tanzania, a country, which according to him, has but one traffic light and no stop signs. When I picked him up at the airport he was frightened by the escalator (he had never seen one!) and refused to ride it to the luggage claim area.Fr. Mathew had a difficult time adjusting to our American menu. He had never heard of, let alone tasted, many of the dishes we take for granted like spaghetti, baked potatoes, green beans, and salad.
By the time he returned to Tanzania a year last year, however, he had come to appreciate American dining. When asked at his farewell reception what he would miss the most he said, “The people, of course, but after you I will miss the food. You are the richest people on earth if only because you have so much food. Now, I must return to my country where I will eat chick peas and rice every day, and, if I am lucky, a chicken on Sunday. And every time I sit down to eat I will remember the meals I had here in America and never be satisfied again.”
The hungry multitude is still with us, crying out for the basic necessities of life. The sheer size of the problem may make us wonder what we have to offer.
Like the Apostle Andrew, we say, “What is that among so many?” Yet draw our inspiration from the young boy. The Lord did not dismiss his offering as too small or insufficient, and he won’t dismiss our gifts either. It is in using our little efforts that God chooses to produce his greatest miracles. Our barley load and our fish may be the small amount we set aside from our bounty, like the Rice Bowls distributed each Lent for the poor in the Third World or the tradition of contributing to St. Anthony’s Bread for the local poor or your gifts to the St. Vincent DePaul Society. On their own, our contributions may seem insignificant but multiplied around our parish or a caring community it has all the potential of becoming a miracle.
One parishioner approached me this week and inquired if many people made donations to Food for the Poor last weekend. When I said that many had she replied, “I didn’t because what could a mere $5 do?” Just think what good would be accomplished if every family at OLS gave just $5 a month. That would be $1500 a month. That would be $18,000 a year. That’s enough to feed 30 families of five for an entire year! And we wonder what our $5 could ever accomplish.
In the Gospel, we hear how Jesus took some loaves and gave thanks to his Father. Thankfulness for what we have can be a beginning to being more generous. Every day we live in this world is a miracle of God’s providence, much greater than the feeding of the multitude, but because it happens with such regularity we give it no real thought.
The feeding of the multitude should make us think about thanking God not only for our food but for the many blessings and benefits that come our way and which we take so much for granted.
I close today with a few questions and a suggestion:
What do you take for granted?
How would you cope if what you take for granted were no longer available to you?
What are you willing to surrender to Jesus so he can continue to work miracles among us today?
Perhaps we could begin my making ourselves for available for the daily celebrations of Mass if our work schedules allow us to do so. There is no greater miracle that the one Jesus works at this altar every time Mass is celebrated. And think of wondrous food we are privileged to eat.
Not even the angels are so blessed!
We can easily picture this youth’s bewilderment when asked to give up all that he has, to part with the only food that is available. His sacrifice, however, is well rewarded when he sees Jesus feed the multitude with the food he has provided. Through the power and the prayer of the Lord the impossible become possible. What is given to Jesus as a sacrifice is given back by him totally transformed. The crowd is fed, symbolizing that Jesus has come to give life to all people.
One message we can take to heart from this miraculous feeding of the crowd is the importance of sharing what we have with those who are less well off, especially those who are starving. How ironic that we would have been visited just a week ago by Fr. Bob, who told us of the need for our help in feeding the poor of our own hemisphere.
The Lord asks us to give ourselves and our resources generously to him, to place what we have and what we are at his disposal. Not many of us have experienced the pangs of real hunger which darkens the mind and forces an honest person to become a thief. Our problem is that we have too much food. The inclination to selfishness is strong in all of us. The more we have the more we want. Yet, there is food enough in the world for the needs of all people but not for people’s greed.
Two years ago, a young priest came to work with me at Holy Rosary. Fr. Mathew was from Tanzania, a country, which according to him, has but one traffic light and no stop signs. When I picked him up at the airport he was frightened by the escalator (he had never seen one!) and refused to ride it to the luggage claim area.Fr. Mathew had a difficult time adjusting to our American menu. He had never heard of, let alone tasted, many of the dishes we take for granted like spaghetti, baked potatoes, green beans, and salad.
By the time he returned to Tanzania a year last year, however, he had come to appreciate American dining. When asked at his farewell reception what he would miss the most he said, “The people, of course, but after you I will miss the food. You are the richest people on earth if only because you have so much food. Now, I must return to my country where I will eat chick peas and rice every day, and, if I am lucky, a chicken on Sunday. And every time I sit down to eat I will remember the meals I had here in America and never be satisfied again.”
The hungry multitude is still with us, crying out for the basic necessities of life. The sheer size of the problem may make us wonder what we have to offer.
Like the Apostle Andrew, we say, “What is that among so many?” Yet draw our inspiration from the young boy. The Lord did not dismiss his offering as too small or insufficient, and he won’t dismiss our gifts either. It is in using our little efforts that God chooses to produce his greatest miracles. Our barley load and our fish may be the small amount we set aside from our bounty, like the Rice Bowls distributed each Lent for the poor in the Third World or the tradition of contributing to St. Anthony’s Bread for the local poor or your gifts to the St. Vincent DePaul Society. On their own, our contributions may seem insignificant but multiplied around our parish or a caring community it has all the potential of becoming a miracle.
One parishioner approached me this week and inquired if many people made donations to Food for the Poor last weekend. When I said that many had she replied, “I didn’t because what could a mere $5 do?” Just think what good would be accomplished if every family at OLS gave just $5 a month. That would be $1500 a month. That would be $18,000 a year. That’s enough to feed 30 families of five for an entire year! And we wonder what our $5 could ever accomplish.
In the Gospel, we hear how Jesus took some loaves and gave thanks to his Father. Thankfulness for what we have can be a beginning to being more generous. Every day we live in this world is a miracle of God’s providence, much greater than the feeding of the multitude, but because it happens with such regularity we give it no real thought.
The feeding of the multitude should make us think about thanking God not only for our food but for the many blessings and benefits that come our way and which we take so much for granted.
I close today with a few questions and a suggestion:
What do you take for granted?
How would you cope if what you take for granted were no longer available to you?
What are you willing to surrender to Jesus so he can continue to work miracles among us today?
Perhaps we could begin my making ourselves for available for the daily celebrations of Mass if our work schedules allow us to do so. There is no greater miracle that the one Jesus works at this altar every time Mass is celebrated. And think of wondrous food we are privileged to eat.
Not even the angels are so blessed!
