EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY OF YEAR "A"

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

Cycle “A”:Mt. 14, 13 -21: Feeding the Multitude

The story is told of a journalist interviewing Jesus. “How do you propose to spread your programme?”  Christ replied, “Through my disciples.”  “But suppose your disciples fall down on the job?” The Master replied, “I have no other plan.”  There are seven sacraments. Obviously, Jesus wants each one of us to be his eighth sacrament. As this Gospel opens Jesus has just read the front page news in the “Jerusalem Times” of the murder most foul of John the Baptist. He is crushed. One suspects he shed tears. Jesus and he were cousins, almost kissing cousins. They had played together as kids and wrestled as adolescents.  As an adult, Jesus had walked almost to the bottom of Palestine to hear John speak. “No man born of woman is greater than John,” declared Jesus. So naturally, on hearing of John’s murder, he is distraught and wants to get away from the crowds and get his nerves together. But also with John dead He knows the police would be rounding up the usual suspects and associates and he would surely be on their short list. So he has to make himself scarce. The Master was not a loose canon; he wasn’t looking for trouble as he had better things to do, and was pretty tired. So he jumped into a sailboat with his equally tired apostles and set the tiller for the other side of the lake. As clever as he was, he did not get away unnoticed. Huge mobs gave chase on foot. You get some idea of his drawing power when you reflect that people were willing to walk ten miles to hear him. When was the last time you walked 16 kms. to hear somebody ? And when was the last time somebody walked even one mile to listen to you?

When the Teacher arrived at the designated spot, he saw field to field people. A guesstimate from clues given by the Gospels is about 15,000 people. A hungry man is an angry man. Jesus was hungry but not angry with them. He places his own need for a long nap on the back burner; even forgets his personal safety, and puts his grief for John the Baptist on hold. He makes room for these sheep without a shepherd. You can compute on your Panasonic PC how much time our Leader spent not talking to people but easing their pain. You will be in for a surprise. Our dear Lord is telling us that we must extend ourselves to those who want a piece of us; that we must make room in our lives for them, even though there is a heavy cost to ourselves. That is what the Christian mystique is all about. We cannot see God, so we serve our neighbour.

Only after filling their bellies does Jesus proceed to put thoughts into their heads. After physical hunger is satisfied (and that must come first) there is the hunger of the heart. This is the hunger we all have for meaning, for recognition, for acceptance; in one word, for love. We can try and experiment with everything that life has on offer, but still we come back to the deep ache  -  unless we forcibly blot it out with noise, or a drug, or hyperactivity. In reality we know that these moments of encounter with the real Risen Jesus are most precious, and that we let these moments slip away to our great cost.

 (One hopes Jesus took some time out to eat something himself. The context suggests he talked for hours. Not a body stirred. There was no microphone out there. His voice must have been raw and his pitifully lean body drained.)

Now let’s return to the evangelist Matthew.  Mathew who was a former revenue agent and who wrote this Gospel, is telling us that the Master was not just in the business of saving souls but of people  -  body, mind, emotions, and soul. We do not preach a pie-in-the-sky-Jesus. Jesus wants us to enjoy the good life not only after our death but also right now and here. God’s children must he like God: happy and healthy at all times. And while we ask God to take the load off our minds and hearts we also listen to the Church asking us to contribute towards the needs of the neglected, sad and hungry. It is just taking a leaf out of the Teacher’s own work-book. Note also, He does not make a distinction between who are more hungry and who less. He feeds everybody and there are no complaints. Should you and I be different ? The Gospel tells us the role of the disciples in Christ’s plan. It was they who gave out bread to the crowd. He worked through the hands of his disciples that day and he still operates the same way today. And since he has no other plan, are you and I  ready to be that eighth sacrament that Jesus was counting on ?

PRAYER (David Adam)

Christ, let me see you in others.

Christ, let others see you in me.

Christ, let me see

You are the caller

You are the poor

You are the stranger at my door.

You are the wanderer

The unfed

You are the homeless

With no bed.

You are the man

Driven insane

You are the child

Crying in pain.

You are the other who comes to me

Open my eyes that I may see.

                          Sunday 18 Year “A”
                        Matthew 14:13-21
We all have questions about God. What thoughts go through God's mind when He thinks about us? 
If God suddenly appeared in front of me, of course I'd be startled and a little afraid. I might even ask, "Lord, what do You want of me? What do You want me to do?" He'd probably say, "I want you to love Me more. Do you realize how much I love you?" No, none of us realizes how much. If we would only just be honest with ourselves and with others, we wouldn't have to do a thing more. God would search us out. He would enter our hearts and flood them with His life, and fire them with His love.

What is God's love like? God's love is a sacrificing love. He was raised up on the Cross that He might draw all people to share in the beauty and strength of that love.

Today's Gospel is one of the clearest events in the life of Jesus to describe this great truth. Jesus came to feed and nourish the world. The multiplication of the loaves and fish is the prelude to Eucharist. What is Eucharist? It is the continuation of the greatest act of Love the world has ever known. When we give God just a little, He changes it and pours it back into hearts a hundredfold. Just as for the hungry crowd on the hillside, at Mass, we bring to the altar our very small gift, and Jesus changes that gift into Himself, then pours Himself into our hearts at Communion.
Unfortunately, as the miracle is repeated over and over again, our appreciation is dulled. We believe, of course, that Jesus redeemed the world from Satan's power, but we often neglect our role in being "God-bearers." If we really understand that we must be "bread for others," then we will share in Jesus' yearning to transform the world, to make every person holy.

 So often our "Amen" at Mass is feeble and halfhearted. Our "Amen," as the priest offers us this precious divine food, should also impel us to seize this God with passion and love and draw Him to our souls. Then we should become channels of justice and hope for the society around us.

What is the power of that gift that He so needs us to share with our disturbed society? It is the very power needed to bring Peace to the entire world!