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From the Pastor's Desk: August 2, 2020
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"All you who are thirsty, come to the water!"
These words from today's Liturgy of the Word could be applied equally to bodies and spirits in these hot summer Florida days. The words of the prophet Isaiah offer us a wonderful invitation to partake in the spiritual and physical reality of his message of gifts of water, grain, wine, and milk, which sustain and strengthen us, and bring us joy and nourishment. After all, our God is indeed the source of all these "gifts that without measure flow from His goodness."
In His goodness, He continues to satisfy and provide for our needs – both spiritual and physical. In today’s Gospel, Jesus makes this reality clear as He extends His generosity towards His people. After another long day of being together, the exhausted and exasperated disciples try to get Jesus to send away the hungry host.
Jesus' compassion, however, leads Him to put aside His own plans for the sake of the needy crowds. The Lord looks at His disciples so preoccupied with their own selfish concerns, “It is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” As the Lord listens to the poor excuses of His own close followers “His heart was moved with pity for them” as well, because they were confused of their roles and abilities to trust their Master, and perhaps out of greed, they wished not to share the little that they had for themselves. Jesus does not buy into it but rather gives them a pretty direct order, "Feed them yourselves." I could easily paraphrase their response: “What???!!!! Do we see the same thing???!!! Let’s make this clear – so, it is late evening, we have five thousand men, with another few thousand women and children, and you want us to give them a meal? Seriously????”
Obviously, Jesus is not concerned with His disciples’ attitude and does what He does best, to put aside His own plans for the sake of the needy crowds. He always has more than enough to provide for the needs of His people. He took the little stash of food that they had– “Five loaves and two fish.” After blessing and breaking the bread, He gave it to His apostles and told them to distribute it, so they can actively participate in the ministry of their Master. And then it overflows in a miracle so awe-inspiring that it is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels. The miracle only occurred when they obeyed Him– when our faith collaborates with the divine grace of God.
After all, He could have easily worked a miracle from scratch to satisfy the needy crowds. He didn’t need human assistance. But Jesus is a team player. This is the way He operated before and this is the way He invites us day in and day out-- to be faithful players of the “Team Jesus”. God out of love wants to give us the joy and dignity of being cooperators with Him in what He is doing for us and for others. Jesus wanted to involve His disciples in the most important mission ever, the proclamation of the Kingdom of God and the salvation of the human race. He could have done it all Himself. He could have stayed here on earth until the end of time, traversed every land, preached and cured by Himself, but He wanted them to share in this mission. He gave them His message and His authority. They were simple, for the most part “blue-collar folks”, sinners just like us. But they were capable of saying yes to God, to offering to Him their good will, and all the talents He gave them — whether they were a meager one loaf and one fish, or many more — and allowing the Lord to multiply their offerings by His divine power.
Today, we are invited to reflect and to respond in our own way, as God wants the same from us. Regardless of how many gifts and blessings the Lord has given us, He wants us to give them back to Him so that He can do far greater things with them. Would you please offer what you have with utmost generosity for the glory of God, growth in your personal relationship with the Lord and the transformation of our parish community?
On Saturday, we begin the month of August – the month dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The Immaculate Heart of Mary is often venerated together with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Just as the Sacred Heart represents Christ's love for mankind, the Immaculate Heart represents the Blessed Virgin's desire to lead all people to Christ.
I wish you a blessed week!
With prayers,
Fr. Andy
