XVIII Sunday “a”
August 2, 2020
When Jesus heard of the death of John
the Baptist,
he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.
The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.
When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.
When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said,
“This is a deserted place and it is already late;
dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages
and buy food for themselves.”
Jesus said to them, “There is no need for them to go away;
give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him,
“Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”
Then he said, “Bring them here to me, ”
and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples,
who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied,
and they picked up the fragments left over—
twelve wicker baskets full.
Those who ate were about five thousand men,
not counting women and children. Matthew 14, 13-21
he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.
The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.
When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,
his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.
When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said,
“This is a deserted place and it is already late;
dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages
and buy food for themselves.”
Jesus said to them, “There is no need for them to go away;
give them some food yourselves.”
But they said to him,
“Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”
Then he said, “Bring them here to me, ”
and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven,
he said the blessing, broke the loaves,
and gave them to the disciples,
who in turn gave them to the crowds.
They all ate and were satisfied,
and they picked up the fragments left over—
twelve wicker baskets full.
Those who ate were about five thousand men,
not counting women and children. Matthew 14, 13-21
We, the parishioners of St. Mary’s church understand
what Jesus is talking about in today’s Gospel. I don’t mean that we understand
the exegetical references and the meaning of the text on an intellectual level.
No we understand the scripture passage of the level of the heart. We know what
Jesus is talking about because we are there, we know that Jesus is talking to
us. Jesus is talking about feeding hungry people. Like the crowds in the Gospel
we turn to Jesus, we ask Jesus to look on us with compassion. We ask Jesus to
cure our sick and fed our hungry stomachs.
But we also understand the gospel on our deeper level. What
is the point of being cured of Covid and only living another 50 years? We want
to live forever! What is the point of being fed today, but not receiving the
food of eternal life? When the Gospel says Jesus took the bread, blessed it,
broke it and gave it to the people we know what Jesus is referring to, we know
that he is referring to the Eucharist. Many of you have shared with me that
your greatest sacrifice during this pandemic wasn’t that you couldn’t go to a
movie or out to dinner. It hasn’t been the loss of money, or even getting sick.
No, our greatest sacrifice has been not being able to receive the Eucharist,
the bread of life. Last week we initiated drive by communion for our elderly
and those with health conditions. 35 cars came last Saturday and several told
me that they were in tears when they received Jesus the bread of life. We
understand the deeper meaning of the text.
But there is another meaning in the text that we might have
missed but that we still get. Verse 16 says, “There
is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” We have lost a great
deal in these past months. Many of us have lost jobs. People have gotten sick
and some have died. Some of you here present have lost loved ones to this
terrible disease. And in the midst of our sickness and loss we the people of
St. Mary’s are not sending anyone away, we are feeding them.
Matt
Pope, a parishioner sent me a homily for this Sunday. He said,
“Consider this: Jesus may have performed a miracle of
another kind. Recall that the apostles wanted to send the people away in order
that hungry crowd could find their own food.
The disciples do not sound like disciples here. Jesus had a better solution: Generosity.
“It is a miracle that we repeating with our food bank. While
the original miracle may have been the start of what we call the Body of
Christ, the Food Bank is operating because the Body of Christ is
operating. We, as the Body of Christ at
St. Mary’s are doing the same thing that Jesus did more 2,000 years ago.
Different circumstances, but essentially the same thing is going on. Just as
Jesus’ heart was moved with compassion, so our hearts are moved with
compassion.
“The food bank is a true miracle and it comes directly from
Jesus’ example. DIRECTLY FROM HIS EXAMPLE!
The people who bring the food, the people who work the food bank, the
people who hand the food out, the people who have asked their neighbors for
donations and the people who are given the food they are Jesus. They are all
Jesus. We are being Jesus to one another.”
But let us not forget the fourth meaning here. Matt
aluded to it when he said, “We are the body of Christ.” We aren’t just a good
social outreach service. We aren’t employees of the government. We are the body of
Christ. As a Catholic community we don’t just feed people with cereal and pasta
sauce. We feed them with the body of Christ. The miracle isn’t just what we
share but it is who we are. We are Jesus to one another.
Come Lord Jesus!
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