August 31, 2014

22^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Jeremiah 20: 7-9; Romans 12: 1-2; Matthew 16: 21-27

What does it mean to follow Jesus? What is required for His followers? How am I shaping up? It is so easy to say, ‘I think I’m doing pretty well, but am I?’ The readings help me to radically put everything about Jesus into the proper perspective.
Jeremiah was called from before his birth to be a prophet and he exercised this office for close to 45 years. In the opening chapter Jeremiah declares his inadequacy for this task. God retorts that He is always present and that Jeremiah doesn’t have to worry, ‘I am sending you and will give you as much help as you need.’ And when Jeremiah received this reply Yahweh touched the prophet’s mouth saying, “My words, your mouth.” Today Jeremiah is lamenting the fact of being a prophet and the costs associated with being a spokesperson for God. The people he is sent to help capture him and have thrown him into a cistern and left him to die. God also forbade him to marry and have a family, and Jeremiah is lamenting the day he was born. “You duped me, O Lord, and I let myself be duped…” I reflect on the many times I have fallen into this same complaining trap of the devil: ‘You deserve it…no one does anything for you…take care of yourself…forget others...why should you be charitable and giving…it’s a ‘dog eat dog’ world…be numero uno’ The devil wants each one to take the easy way. Being a follower of Jesus is to realize that each person is my brother and sister and Jesus places me to be a help to those He puts in my life. It’s not about me; it’s about God and being Jesus to others.
Paul in his letter to the Romans is saying much the same, “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” Paul is telling us another way that we can offer sacrifice to God each and every day of our lives: in the giving of ourselves; in ‘sacrificing’ ourselves. In Paul’s world people regularly offered animal sacrifices to God in the temple in Jerusalem. I’m sure Paul participated in these since he was a Pharisee. Paul is saying to each follower of Jesus that we can offer our own body, our very self as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. Paul by using the term ‘sacrifice’ means the ‘new way of life’ of a Christian. How loving am I…how giving am I and how caring am I? Paul did not view the Christian life as a matter of do’s and don’ts. For Paul the morally good life is realizing that God is always present in my life; God is always filling me with His love; God has shown His mercy on me constantly and my response is to give myself totally in gratitude to loving as Jesus showed me. In this way I will offer God a sacrifice that is living, holy and pleasing. I look and reflect if I have been Jesus today? Have I noticed His love and shown this love? Have I been grateful and caring?
Matthew shares the first of three of Jesus’ predictions of His death: Jesus predicts what awaits Him in Jerusalem. As Jeremiah suffered, so will Jesus suffer and die at the hands of the Jewish religious authorities. Now Peter had just made an amazing statement to Jesus that ‘He was the Messiah’. And Jesus had responded by bestowing authority on him (Matthew 16:18). Evidently Peter thought he knew what ‘it was all about’ and it certainly didn’t mean that Jesus was going to die. Jesus sharply rebuked him: “Get behind Me, Satan!” Peter scandalizes Jesus by his attempt to prevent the completion of the plan of God. He had totally misunderstood Jesus and what it means to be a disciple. Disciples must take up their cross and follow Jesus, even unto death. I probably would have responded in the same way…would I want the person that I chose to follow be killed. Would I like the prediction that I would be persecuted too and die? Not a very attractive ‘new job’ offer. So I reflect on what the cross means to me? Do I realize that Jesus is saying that the cross happens in my life when I follow Him? Am I willing to say ‘Yes’ and carry my crosses? Am I willing to see that Jesus is telling me as He told Jeremiah and Paul that He is present, do not worry…just be what He has gifted me to be?

Living the Word shares these words: “The German Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed by the Nazis near the end of World War II, wrote in his classic work Discipleship, ‘Every call of Jesus is a call to death.’ He means by this that, like the disciples who followed Jesus during His earthly ministry, we too are called to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses. As St. Paul exhorted the Christians at Rome, we are to offer our bodies, our lives, and our loves as a ‘living sacrifice’ to God. We are not to conform ourselves to the trends and fashions of our day, but we are to be transformed into the image of Jesus. We are to die to our old self so that we can live the risen life of Jesus.

It is only if we do this that we can become, like Peter, a rock that forms part of the living temple of God’s people, and not be a stone of stumbling, an obstacle in the path of those who follow Jesus on the way of His cross.”
Peter discovered many important points chief of which was that avoiding evil is not really what discipleship is all about. It is about ‘doing’ the will of God…seeking out what is the right thing to do…realizing that the people God places in front of me is not an accident, it could be for the exact purpose to be Jesus to that person. It means that I am called to be an instrument of God’s peace. Jesus is consistently asking me to take up His cross…the cross really of loving. Many times it will be easy; and then there will be definite times that it means giving of myself, of my time and efforts and gifts. This certainly will demand a great deal of me but this is the reason for my existence and God’s love. So I reflect on:

• “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.” When I see these words I wonder that when I’ve done wrong or ‘my way’ how easy or hard is it for me to admit my culpability.
  
• Can I tell the difference between moments of sin and those of grace?
  
• Alice Camille in Exploring The Sunday Reading says, “Like our brother Peter, we’re stunned to be called out in the midst of wrongdoing: we thought it was okay to stand for self-preservation, or to point out the errors of others, or to insist that charity begins at home. It’s terribly easy to skate over the line, and kid ourselves into thinking we’re still the good guys.” Why do I do this?
  

Sacred Space 2014 outlines discipleship:

“Jesus tells us that hard choices have to be made. I pray that I may remain generous at such times and not become resentful or bitter.

My prayer will help me to recognize the cross that God needs me to carry. Like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, I pray that God’s will be done.”

August 24, 2014

21^st Sunday Ordinary A

Isaiah 22:10-23; Romans 11:33-36; Matthew 16: 13-20
The core of the reflection today surrounds itself around Jesus’ question: “Who do you say that I am?” This is addressed to Peter and I believe to each person who calls himself/herself a follower of Jesus; to each person who calls himself/herself a believer, to each person who calls himself/herself a Christian and to each person who calls himself/herself a Catholic. Now if this question is addressed to me individually then how I respond is very important, and the response is more than a right and wrong answer…the response necessitates a definitive statement about what I am going to do about it.
Let’s look at the Scripture passage for clarification and help. The response of Peter, his profession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God plays a very important role in Matthew’s gospel. As a result of this, Jesus refers to Peter as a “Rock.” This word does not appear in any of the other gospels. Scholars say that it is a ‘play on words’ since the Aramaic word for Peter is ‘rock’. Jesus says that Peter is the person that He will build His Church. The Greek words of church is ‘ekklesia’ which means an assembly and is a synonym for synagogue. Now Church appears two times in Matthew and that’s the only place it appears. Now an important part of history is that there is strong evidence that Matthew’s community may have been excluded from worshiping in the synagogue because of their confession of Jesus as the Messiah. Peter is recognized as the ‘leader’ and the “gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” So what does all this mean? All the mainline Scripture scholars say that Jesus appointed Peter to a special position. The debate among Catholics and Protestants is whether Jesus intended this special position of authority to be passed on to Peter’s successors. Catholics say of course, in the figure and office of the Pope; Protestants say no.
I feel that exploring this passage in this way brings each of us away from the direct question Jesus is asking me and each person: NOT “Who do people say that the Son of Man is “BUT WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?” Jesus is definitely not interested in hearsay or gossip or scuttlebutt or ‘sharing of ignorance’. Jesus wants to know what His apostles NOW THINK. Jesus wants to know ‘what I think now!’ Jesus is not interested in the opinions of the people I associate with or respect, He wants to know NOW what I have to say about Jesus…who He is. Peter gives the ‘right’ answer. Peter is speaking, certainly with the deep help of the Spirit. Matthew could have made Peter into a strong hero with His response. Matthew didn’t…why? Because leadership is not about power, splendor and glory, it is about faith and trust and service. Peter had a long way still to go. He still had Jesus’ betrayal, death and resurrection to deal with…and he was certainly not a ‘knight in shining armor’ in these events. The bottom line is that Peter’s human weakness overcame his little faith, and he will fail. But his story is a faith story of allowing the Spirit to pick him up and continue to regroup, reassert his faith and continue on.’

Give Us This Day shares a reflection by Sr. Katherine Howard, in Not by Bread Alone that is beautiful for me. “Jesus identifies Simon as ‘Peter,’ that is, ‘Rock.’ Left to his own false bravado and fears, however, Peter was more like a shifting heap of sand. During Jesus’ agony, Peter is one of the three favored apostles who are unable to stay awake with Him in His suffering. Peter denies Jesus three times. Peter is not present at the foot of the cross. It is not Peter’s character or virtuous achievements that make him a rock. It is his faith in Jesus that makes him stable and strong enough to be a foundation stone for the church.

Peter’s faith is more than intellectual knowledge; it is a trusting relationship with Jesus. When he confesses that Jesus is the Christ, Peter is speaking out of deep loving communion with Him. He knows Christ as a friend knows friend, as a husband or wife knows a spouse. Knowing in this deep, loving way with heart as well as head makes Peter willing to place all his trust in Jesus, the Messiah, God’s Son.

No matter what our personality type, weaknesses of character, or previous failings, Jesus welcomes us all into the same kind of deep, loving relationship. We are invited to come to Christ, a living stone and, like living stones, to let ourselves be built into a spiritual house (1Peter 2: 4-5). Believing and being baptized in Jesus, the Son of the living God, unites us with Peter as rocks, “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the capstone” (Ephesians 2:20)
Is Jesus my God? Do I allow God to love me? Do I pay attention to God leading me closer to Himself? Am I willing to give up ‘my way’ and let my life be about God’s way? Do I make Scripture a big part of my learning about Jesus? Do I feel I know all I need to know? Do I allow myself to sit at the feet of the Master and let Him lead me because He knows the way to heaven…better still…He is the only way to heaven. AND He wants me and each person to be in heaven with Him.
I constantly grow in my faith each day IF I allow God to help me. Peter didn’t want Jesus to be the ‘suffering Messiah’ and he certainly didn’t want Him to die. He had to learn this and he did learn it the hard way. I must grow daily in my understanding of this GIFT of faith with which God has blessed me. Why do I believe? Because a God of love and caring wouldn’t make me look like an idiot or cut me to pieces. A God of love leads me always closer to love itself. So the crucial question for me and each person is “Who is Christ for me? Is He the Son of the Living God for me? Did He love me and show me how to be love? And if so, how does this belief affect the way I live?
So I reflect on:

• Do I ask each day ‘What does my faith ask of me?’
  
• I look at the gospels and see the values of Jesus. Do I realize that I will fall short, but that Jesus understands this and is still leading me closer?
  
• Jesus said that leaders in the new kingdom would be the servants of all, do I want to be served more than serving?
  

Sacred Space 2014 says:

“Jesus asks about what others say, but it is what Peter says that is important to Him. I may come to prayer motivated to pray for others, but God wants to be in touch with me personally. Prayer is my heart and God’s heart in conversation.

Jesus was not, for Peter, just another great or admirable figure. He was the one who could change his life. How do I let Jesus reconfigure my priorities?”

August 17, 2014

20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Isaiah 56: 1, 6-7; Romans 11: 13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15: 21-28
I belong…what an interesting way to start a reflection. What do I belong to: the Roman Catholic Church, the Catholic Priesthood, and the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia? I am a member of the Knights of Columbus, I belong to a small faith group. I could open my wallet and see all the different credit cards I have and ‘discount’ cards for various businesses. I have a special group of priest friends. I feel comfortable in belonging to these ‘groups’. Now when I say that I ‘belong’ the implication is present that there are others who ‘do not belong’. This poses no problem or difficulties for me, almost all of the time. But when someone who doesn’t belong infringes on ‘my group’ I could easily become ‘possessive’ and in some way let that person know that they are not in the group, and perhaps ‘not welcomed’ into the group. I could be very selfish in this and it could show my insecurities. I could also become more aware of my prejudices with these ‘others’ and make remarks and not be open to being ‘a responsive, caring Christian to them. My natural response to all of this, could be ‘I do not have a prejudice bone in my body.’ But I do, I have loads of them. Am I ‘working’ on being a Christian who accepts all people as equal and loved by God and helping each one and myself to get closer to God’s love and heaven? I really never think about this, but the readings today are focusing their attention on this ‘gap’ in my Christian growth.
The opening line in Isaiah today is a good summary of many of his prophecies: he is calling on the people to concentrate their living on doing what is right and just. This sounds very ‘nice’ and ‘easy’ to do but Isaiah adds a very surprising addition: God calls ALL nations and ALL peoples; ALL have been called to heaven. AND we, the ‘IN GROUP’ whether it be the Israelites returning from captivity, or the Jewish nation of the time of Jesus, or the followers of Jesus, or Christians, or Catholics are called to serve as beacons of light to show the way for the rest of the world. Isaiah is saying that ALL ‘foreigners’ will be included (Gentiles…Romans…all)…if they love the name of the Lord, they along with Israel, will be regarded as servants of the Lord. This still may seem to be ‘no problem’ for most people but what happened after Isaiah gave this prophecy? There was no prophet after Isaiah who shared this vision of what ‘we’ have to do: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Isaiah was preparing the way for all to listen to the call of Jesus to all people.
Fr. Charles Miller a scholar and noted homilist states in Sunday Preaching, “This universalism was a hard lesson for the Jews to learn. That is why at the time of Jesus and even afterwards there was a bitter dispute about the place of the Gentiles. The Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel was not Jewish; she was a Gentile. Jesus’ disciples wanted Him to have nothing to do with her, to send her away. When the woman persisted in asking Jesus to heal her daughter, Jesus said, ‘It is not right to take the food of the sons and daughters and throw it to the dogs.” How could Jesus say such a harsh and mean thing? Actually His words are an echo of the Jewish leaders who wanted nothing to do with Gentiles and looked upon them as dogs. St. Matthew who wrote this Gospel story hoped that those hearing these harsh, cruel words on the lips of Jesus would shock his readers into realizing how improper it was to reject the Gentiles. The woman by her faith won the favor of Jesus.
A note: the woman is a Canaanite, which means that she is a gentile. She desperately wants Jesus to heal her sick daughter. She is powered by her faith to risk insult, to be bold and be heard. And Jesus heard and responded. The lesson is a lesson about the power of faith…how powerful is my faith?

Fr. Miller continues, “Today we do not think that people have to become Jewish in order to become Catholics. But maybe we practice other forms of exclusiveness. In some instances roles have become reversed; the anti-Semitism of today has replaced the ‘anti-Gentilism’ of the first Christian century. Racism is a serious problem in our society. Hatred for immigrants, many of whom are fellow Catholics, has given meaning to that strange word, ‘xenophobia.’

The word we should concentrate on is ‘Catholic.’ It reminds us that ours is a universal, world-wide Church, which embraces everyone. Every Catholic Church is a house of prayer for all peoples. Here the Lord offers to all of us, not the scraps from the table, but the precious Body and Blood of the Lord. The Lord who comes to us in Holy Communion is the Lord of all. To be faithful to Him is to accept all peoples without exception.”
So how do I apply these readings to myself? I have to sit back and see where I am in God’s eternal plan and how I am living as Jesus taught. This is not easy because with the advancements of our culture and society and all of the ‘toys’ that occupy my life, it is often more difficult to believe in a personal loving God. I want ‘things now’…I want God to answer me ‘now’…I want to live my busy life and have time for God when ‘I want to have time’ or when I can afford to break away from my busyness and give God time.’ It’s easy to feel that I am ‘entitled’ because of where I am and what I have done. Yet at the same time I can so easily feel lost and disconnected from this God who is crazy in love with me. I want to be loved by God but I shortchange myself by placing earthly loves above my love for God. The woman today is a model for ‘tough faith.’ Sometimes I hear that it is easy for me to have faith because I am a priest, but faith doesn’t always make things easy. In fact the opposite is more likely the case. But I have to have the ‘faith to not give up’. I have to live and be convinced that faith impels me to persevere, to continue this earthly living with no guarantees of what will happen…and it is so often not happy, but with pain and suffering. Faith calls for humility, which isn’t easy, with courage and with love. And I always say, ‘Lord help me to believe in Your love for me.
So I reflect on:

• From Matthew a Devotional Commentary, “’is there any hope for me a sinner? Is there any hope form my son’s incurable disease? For my sister who has fallen away from the church? For my co-worker who has never been baptized and did not have a religious upbringing? For everyone who has been traumatized by abuse and neglect?’ The answer is found in scripture over and over again: ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” No one is excluded.” Am I living this?
  
• How often do I find myself judging the faith of others, to determine how worthy they are of heaven?
  
• Do I measure others on my faith? What does Jesus’ death on the cross ask of me?
  
• Do I believe without a doubt that I have been saved by Jesus’ death on the cross?
  
• Sacred Space 2014 asks me, “I realize that my prayer often falters when I see no answer. Do I sometimes give up easily, not giving the energy, time, or attention that demonstrates my sincerity?”
  

August 10, 2014

19^th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

1 Kings 19:9, 11-13; Romans 9: 1-5; Matthew 14:22-33
How many times have I jumped without looking? How many times have I not looked at the ramifications of my actions? How many times have I set out in a ‘leap of faith’ and have the Lord totally rescue me? How many times have I decided that “I can do this” and not even felt compelled to ask the Lord for help? How many times do I have such an inflated view of myself that I end up rejecting God’s grace and, as a result, people are blocked from seeing God? How many times have I found myself in deep water and even found the need to cry out, “Lord save me?.” How many times was I just too proud to ask for help and fail to realize that God’s care and love is always present?
So I look at the readings to seek deeper the need I have of the Lord and the Lord’s total unconditional love for me. God loves me that much and God loves each person that much. Elijah received the message in the first reading to “Go outside and stand on the mountain; the Lord will be passing by.” How many times do I ask God for help and I have a ‘good idea’ of exactly how God will answer? How often do I even suggest some positive ways that He should do this? Elijah expected to ‘see’ God in a spectacular way…in the wind, or an earthquake or in fire, perhaps a volcanic eruption. But God had different plans; He appeared in a little soft breeze.
I complain…people complain. A look in the newspaper will show the number of places where terrible calamities happen…and the immediate reaction is ‘why did God allow this to happen?’ I get so absorbed in this that I fail to notice the enormous heroic response of people giving their time and huge efforts to pitch in and help. This coupled with the generous donors and helpful governments who are contributing to relieve the suffering and restore what was lost. Do I thank God for giving these people the grace to be aware and respond? It seems I concentrate more on God being absent instead of seeing how He is present.
Paul’s letter to the Romans continues to give lessons on how one is to live as a Christian in the world today. Today he is tremendously upset because the people were not putting their faith and trust in Jesus. They were refusing to accept Jesus as the Christ…they wanted their own plan for salvation and thus rejected God’s eternal plan. Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday Readings explains it succinctly: “…Paul suffers for the true believers of his Jewish community who cannot find their way to embrace the place of Jesus in their sacred story. They’re not bad people. They just don’t see how this crucified Galilean fits into the picture of what God’s been doing all along for Israel. For many in Paul’s community, Christianity doesn’t add up. They haven’t had the experience of miracles, resurrections, and visions to bring them along. All they have is a meager rational process that tells them the Jesus piece doesn’t belong to their puzzle. Like Paul, we can pray that the next God crossing will be decisive in bringing our loved ones to faith. The rest is in God’s hands, which is always a good place to be.” I look at my own life and see how much I interfere in God’s plan by inserting ‘the almighty me’ into the syllogism.
I see that this happened with Peter in the Gospel: how confident he was in jumping out of the boat and ‘walking’ on the water. What was going on in his head? Did he think that this was just a simple ‘task’ to perform? Was he thinking that he would be impressing Jesus or the others? More than likely, he didn’t think…he just acted in his ‘normal impulsive’ way. He got out of the boat and attempted the impossible. So many lessons follow: as long as Peter keeps his eyes fixed on the Lord, he has no problem. Then ‘IT’ happened…maybe ‘it’ was the wind or the waves or whatever, fear set in and he began to sink. It leads me to ask, what am I afraid of? Jesus immediately reached out His hand not only to support Peter but to save him. He strengthened Peter’s faith. I’m sure Peter delivered many a sermon on how God always reaches out to help…but do I allow God to help me, to be God to me? More often than not I say ‘no’. Why? Perhaps it’s because of my fears…do I want to stay in my fears? Do I feel maybe that there are some things God isn’t able to do or doesn’t want to do for me? Faith Catholic explains it this way: “We need to be honest with ourselves about the fears of our lives. Some people share similar fears – losses, suffering and helplessness. But there are many other types of fear – the effects of age, debilitating diseases, depression, doubts, being able to make a living, keeping our children safe, the future and, on of the biggest fears of all, death. So much of our fear is wrapped up in the unknown.” And do I realize that God is always with me? Do I realize that God is so ‘crazy in love with me’ that He want to save me from my most violent fears?
Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday Readings says: “In the midst of our darkest hour of fear, Jesus invites us to faith. Just when we’re shuddering and our teeth are chattering with terror, Jesus asks us to get out of the boat. This isn’t really about faith, but about the strength of our relationship with Him. If we walk toward Him in the worst of times, do we trust He’ll reach out His hand?”
William Paul Young, the author of The Shack has a scene where the main character, Mack, is having an encounter with Jesus and asks “…so why do I have so much fear in my life? Jesus responds, ‘Because you don’t believe. You don’t know that We love you. The person who lives by their fears will not find freedom in My love. I am not talking about rational fears regarding legitimate dangers, but imagined fears, and especially the projection of those into the future. To the degree that those fears have a place in your life, you neither believe I am good nor know deep in your heart that I love you. You sing about it; you talk about I, but you don’t know it.” I am on a journey to the Lord…each person is on a journey to the Lord. Since God initiated this journey by creating me and loving me every inch of the way, I must continually go to God and ask, seek, knock…and He will respond. So I reflect on:

• Do I continually turn to God for all that I need?
  
• Do I admit that God is the source of all that I have?
  
• Am I satisfied with having my needs filled or do I want more?
  
• Do I reflect on the difference between my wants and my needs?
  
• Does the Eucharist sustain me?
  

Sacred Space 2014 helps today:
“Time apart at prayer did not close Jesus to the world but inspired Him to go to the help of the troubled disciples. The time that I spend at prayer builds me up in my relationship with God and strengthens me to act in God’s name.

Peter had courage when his eyes were on Jesus, but Peter foundered when he focused on himself and his situation. I ask God to help me keep Jesus before me.”

August 3, 2014

18^th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Isaiah 55: 1-3; Romans 8:35, 37-39; Matthew 14:13-21
How much does God care for me? For each person? The normal reaction, unfortunately that creeps in too quickly in so many, is that God does have a deep care BUT there seems to be a hierarchy in who God cares for. There is no evidence in Scripture for this…in fact the opposite is true: God cares for each person, all the time, in a loving and supportive way. The devil has a glorious time in putting this thought in people’s minds, “God is far too busy with all the difficulties that are happening throughout the world to be able to care for me now.”
So why does the devil do this? Why does the devil try to distract each person from an awareness of God’s constant presence and love? If each person realizes the gifts that God constantly blesses us, I and each one would see that we must share from the abundance and fullness we have received. This would make ‘my’ world conscious of being special and loved and this would be like a snowball rolling down the hill…love would be bigger and bigger. That would mean that every day each person would awaken with new opportunities to love. Then the devil’s temptation toward indifference, negativity or hoarding would not be chosen. Still the question continues: do I accept the loving gifts of God and share in gratitude or do I stay with my own importance and selfishness and reject gift sharing? The readings call this into focus for me today.
Isaiah is comforting God’s people who have received so much persecutions and hardships. He says Trust in God as he invites those who are needy: the thirsty, the hungry and the poor, to seek what they need from God. God brought them to the Promised Land, one “flowing with milk and honey” and this promise remains but they are to trust in God’s love and goodness. God provides for all needs. “Regardless of money, they are invited to eat a rich fare and drink wine and milk. The festive banquet is available for those who heed God’s word. They will have life, for God will renew the everlasting covenant made with David.” (Living the Word).
Paul continues this with the beautiful last words of his eighth chapter to the Romans which detail the meaning of living life as a Christian. Even though our lives are filled with suffering, pain and sin, God promises that we will live in a place of glory. JB Phillips translation is so beautiful, “Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, pain or persecution? Can lack of clothes and food, danger to life and limb, the threat of force or arms? …No, in all these things we win an overwhelming victory through Him who has proved His love for us. I have become absolutely convinced that neither death nor life, neither messenger of Heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today nor what my happen tomorrow, neither, a power from on high nor a power from below, nor anything else in God’s whole world has any power to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!” An interesting visual of this is when I observe the people who come to receive the Eucharist. They stand in line: waiting and hoping, hurting and grateful, lonely and lost. Even the babes in arms come up wanting to be touched and loved and God cares for all. God loves all. God fills all. None of them are separated from the love of Christ.
Matthew shares the story of the miraculous feeding of the huge crowd, a miracle that is in all the gospels. But he adds a new twist: this event came after Jesus heard word of John the Baptist’s death. Jesus goes off to a place to be alone and remember His cousin and pray. I have done the same when a special loved one passed. The people want see and hear more from Jesus so they search Him out. What is important in the picture Matthew paints for us is that Jesus is not upset that people were disturbing Him at this very emotional time. Rather on seeing the vast crowd, “His heart was moved with pity for them.” This is a wonderful reflection for me…no matter what I am going through, Jesus has the same heart-filled compassion and love for me. The disciples felt that this was an intrusion and wanted Jesus to tell them to leave. Jesus saw their hunger to be filled and their need to be loved and said “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” Isn’t that a message for me today…what I have, I have received, these are gifts? Do I keep the gifts for myself or do I give them away? The story of the feeding shows what God is capable of doing but it also asks what I am capable of doing. As Living the Word states this week, “As the first reading reminds us in the end only God can quench our thirst and satisfy our hunger. This is echoed in the second reading as well: it is the love of God given to us in Christ that allows us to ‘conquer overwhelmingly’ the challenges that face us in life and in death. This is the miracle and mystery to which all the other miracles point, and which we accept in faith.”
Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday Reading gives a goal for the gospel miracle for me and each person: “Our meal of love isn’t for the few. It’s for all who are hungry and thirsty, whatever they need and wherever they may be. The multiplication of loaves and fishes tells us there’s always enough to feed the multitudes. We just have to find the resolve to distribute what is given to us to share. Note that Jesus doesn’t serve His disciples so that they may eat. He gives them the blessed and broken loaves so that they might distribute them wider. What we have isn’t for us. What we’re given is a blessed opportunity to satisfy the hunger of the world. What is needed may be our five dollars. Our five minutes. Our benevolent smile. Our second coat. Our forgiveness. Our welcome. Our undivided attention. Our judgment-free compassion.”
And she suggests for reflection:

• “How has your understanding of Eucharist evolved with the number of times you’ve approached the Lord’s Table?
  
• How does the reality of what we celebrate in the Eucharist bind all of us together, even those who do not receive it?
  
• How do you bring the fragments of Eucharist to others so that nothing may be wasted?”
  

An interesting ‘life assignment’ would be:

• To make a list of what is most important in my life.
  
• How many people, instead of things, are on that list?
  
• Evaluate what this means in terms of my priorities in life?
  

Sacred Space 2014 continues with more reflections:
“Jesus’ first response upon hearing of the death of John the Baptist was to withdraw to a quiet place. He was able, however, to change His plan to meet the needs of the people.
I pray for the same freedom: to know what I need and to seek it, remaining ready to turn aside to serve the greater good.”