THE MULTIPLICATION OF THE LOAVES SETS THE STANDARD

There are some parts of the life/teaching of Jesus that have a stronger impact on the Christian life than other parts of the Gospel. Thie Sunday, the multiplication of the loaves is just such a parable in action (Mt. 14, 13-21)

 

The story situates Jesus in a deserted place. The people come looking for his healing miracles and his teaching. The disciples (practical people) recognize how difficult it will be to send then to the surrounding villages to buy some food. Now comes the center of this story. Jesus says: “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”

 

We have to appreciate the impossibility of this situation. Where could these people go?

 

Now the deeper meaning is that Jesus provides the food. Not only do they all eat of the fives loaves and two fish, but there is no hoarding afterwards. The disciples collect twelves baskets full of leftovers.

 

This miracle describes what happened with the first Christian communities. Moved by their life and faith in Jesus Christians moved out to care for the neglected, the poor and the forgotten. It was in their care for the people on the margins that the bread was now shared. Their good deeds became the new multiplication of the loaves.

 

When our Christian faith becomes a living reality in believers ‘ lives this happens all over again. 

 

The quickest example would be the generousity of our own parishioners  to bring food to be shared through the food bank. They do not ask questions. The know that today families are short on resources and a box full of groceries will be very helpful.

 

The number of parishes that have reached out to refugees and those displaced peoples trying to become established in Canada is another way of sharing our food/resources. Accommodating refuges is a long term commitment but it makes the sharing of the bread/loaves very tangible.

 

There was a simple but beautiful gesture in one of our senior’s home. The elderly grandmother, with dementia, loved a certain dixie cup from the Dairy Queen. Her son would stop and pick up her favourite dixie cup. How delightful it was to see the elderly grandmother enjoy something some her family years.

 

There are so many ways that we can share in the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. As Jesus feed the five thousand so we can reach out to share our goodness and compassion with the poor, the hungry and the displaced.

The event has so much to teach us about living in Jesus Christ. It also challenges us to share our compassion with others.

 

 

 

FAITH IS PILGRIMAGE

 

 

“But Grandpa, you’re old!” Now that is a blunt observation from a thirteen -ear old.

This Grandpa did not miss a beat. He looked at the thirteen-year old, “But there’s a lot of living to do yet!”

 

Apply this to our life of faith in Jesus Christ. The worse thing that could happen is for a human being to think they actually know God! This is a black side of religion. When w think we have got it made, we are bankrupt!

 

When our faith is lived authentically it is always a journey, a pilgrimage. There is always a lot more to live and discover. 

 

Pilgrimage is an insightful way to describe what is supposed to happen. When people go on pilgrimage they are searching. It can be described as a vision quest.  We make this long journey (by walking hundreds of kilometers) to arrive at the holy shrine, the holy place. We are making ourselves vulnerable so that God can touch and strengthen our lives.

 

One of the things that should be happening in our Sunday worship is that we are exposed to and we explore the Word of God. Each Sunday we are given a small portion of the Bible – but it is meant to be a time when the people of Church are actively saying, “Now how is the Holy Spirit moving in all this?”  How does this apply to our lives?

 

Our life change.  I am thinking f the young couple who are planning to get married a year from today. A few days later his corporation offered him this wonderful executive position (with corresponding salary) in Austria. Their plans changed immediately. The yconcluded, “If you only have five weeks to plan your wedding, you ;can do it!” And five weeks later they were on the plane to Austria. 

 

Your life changes just as fast.  Now, where is God in all this?

 

How is God trying to deepen your sharing and living in and with the very spirit of Jesus? How is the spirit of Jesus moving you to great love and compassion for your fellow human being?

How are you becoming more a person of Christ’s love?

 

We want to say to everyone, “In the Church, you have not got it made!” How, how is the Holy Spirit moving and working among us?

 

How can we discover the Holy Spirit  today? and always on God’s terms?

 

 

 

 

 

LEARNING TO LIVE WITH A MERCIFUL GOD

Each person has their own journey of faith. And like any trip or journey, there are ups and downs. Have you ever made a  road trip or a holiday excursion where there was no upsetting moments?  Remember the last time that you told the kids to be careful with their ice cream cones and one of them dropped the ice cream on the car floor? 

 

When Christian people reflect on their life with God they will have had moments of unexpected grace and moments of great struggle with God. You shouted at God;  “How could you have let this happen to me?”  

 

There are moments of great happiness at the grace of God and there a moments where we were furious with God.

 

Now this is where we need to be challenged to have an adult experience of God. And this Sunday’s gospel story of the enemy planting weeds among the wheat is a perfect example. The wise farmer tells the hired hands to wait until the harvest and then we will separate the weeds from the good wheat. There is a final judgment and it will be left to the hands of God to separate the sinners from the faithful ones.

 

We live in a world where there is evil. Grown children abandon their aged parents. People cheat each other out of fair wages. Government employees steal resources from the government in ways that are illegal but they know how to cover their tracks. And then we humans make war on one another! 

 

Sin and evil are all too real. No one needs to run far to identify evil. And we all struggle with all the many forms of evil.

 

And here is where our struggles with the real God (not the god of our preferred preferences) come into play.

 

God is a God of mercy, healing and forgiveness. God will separate the good from the evil at the last judgment.

 

The God of mercy challenges us to believe that every human being is always capable of conversion to change from their evil ways and turn toward honesty, compassion and healing  for others. We must believe that everyone is always capable of changing their life decisions to a life of goodness and service of God.

 

Forgiveness is always possible with our God.

 

When you walk down the street in East Hastings in Vancouver and you see men and women bent over due to the crippling effects of fentanyl addiction, I am challenged to recognize the great love that God has for this very broken and suffering human being.

 

As we struggle with the real God our faith will mature. How has your faith matured over the years? 

 

 

 

 

WE STAND TALL

 

 

 

When the Church bends down to lift up a fallen sister or brother, it is then that she stands so tall.

 

The people of the Church do not exist for themselves. This is not a profit making corporation that tries to enhance your financial well-being. We have been established as a community of service and care for our fellow human being. 

 

When our Christian faith is actually lived there is a wonderful dynamic that happens. The closer one draws toward God, the closer you draw towards your fellow human being.W e cannot plan that to happen but I  am sure that this is the power of God’s grace moving within us. 

 

Look at the Christians who take time to visit and care for the elderly with their different degrees of dementia. They take time to just be present, to assure them of the care of another human being. There may be no words spoken but the human care that is given is precious. 

 

Look at the Christians who get  organized to  provide meals and human friendship to the homeless and those struggling with mental illness. 

 

There are  so many examples we could examine but it is in these moments of bending down to help another that we stand so tall.

 

I find this image encouraging and gives me strength in my Christian life. 

 

 

MY FAITH EXPANDS MY LIFE

 

When our Christiaan faith is actually lived (that is much beyond a label that we use to identify ourselves) we discover how the spiritual teachings of the Gospels actually shapes and challenges our life journey.

 

At this point in our history there is concern that mankind has become so powerful that we will not need a lot of human beings to produce the things we need. And there is a real fear that AI (artificial intelligence) could actually start a war without any human beings in control. 

 

There is concern that we could lose a part of the dignity that makes human beings so wonderful. 

 

The population of the world is shifting. Never before in the history of humanity have  so many people moved into a country that they were not born in. Migration is a fact of life.

 

I want to thank the workings of the Spirit of God to reroot us once again in the creation story. This is not some pious teaching story from the past but a powerful tool to shape our personal lives and the way that we structure our Canadian society.

 

The roots of our creation story is that God has created human beings (male and female) in the very image of God. Each human being is an expression of the Creator. Each human being carries within themselves the very value that they are living image of God. 

 

I am so thankful that our Christian teaching moves me to try to see and value the very image of God in every human being I encounter. No one is  more valuable because they can work and be productive in their careers. No one is more valuable because they are capable of being the best soccer player in the world.

 

My Christiaan faith challenges me to see that value in the other each and every day. I must never limit my appreciation of the other based on their physical strength, their intelligence and their self -reliance. 

 

I am challenged to see the other as the loved creation of our loving God and as a sister or brother of equal worth.

 

Christian faith has powerful challenges and incredible rewards when I live and treat the other as the very image  of God.

 

Thank you, Gospel religion, for expanding my vision and my heart. When I live the actual teaching of my faith, I am a more sincere human being.

MISTAKES COME WITH BEING HUMAN

Crea

No one wants to make a mistake. 

 

But making mistakes is as necessary to life as breathing. 

 

How many times have you had to work with people who “make the same mistakes over and over again?  But you can’t tell them anything because they know better! 

 

Right from very early age we experiment, we see if the stove is actually hot! Our little hand touched the hot stove! Ouch! We never do that again! We have learnt something new.

 

Now this continues right to the end of life. In our very senior years we may think that we are still very competent drivers. Then, ouch! We back into a parked car and leave a dent in a stranger’s vehicle. If we are honest with ourselves, we will draw the correct conclusion to this fender-bender.

 

But it is also important in our teenage years that we get ourselves into trouble. We are caught in a very difficult situation. Now, this may be a time when we have to figure our way out of this mess that we brought on ourselves. 

 

What a lesson learnt!

 

As we enter into the spiritual life we want to teach people that we will make mistakes. We can be too demanding of God: “Get us out of this sickness! Or other sufferings and confusion!

 

We may have abandoned the practice of daily prayer only to be confronted that we are out to “Use God.” We are in trouble and so we cry out as a man falling off a cliff cries out for help. 

 

We may be blind to how judgmental we really are toward people who do not share the same color, culture and history that we do. We can be blind to the ‘racist spots” in our personality. 

 

The spiritual life is an actual journey of ups and downs. Try to see what can happen when we are honest about our mistakes, our failures and missteps. Where is the direction that the Holy Spirit is giving in these mistakes?

 

Fortunately, we are living in a time when our church is being more honest about its failure to live up to Gospel teaching. Last month Pope Leo asked for forgiveness for the failures of the Church in its long history with slavery.  It has taken six centuries to come to a n honest assesment that the people of the Church were very wrong in their approval and practice of slavery. And it took six centuries to come to this honest assessment.

 

Take a few moments to see the blessings that have emerged in your own life in r egard to the mistakes you have made.  

HUNGER FOR GOD’S JUSTICE

Whenever a believer draws closer to the living God, that is, they live in a face-to-face relationship with God, they also draw closer to their fellow human being. What is happening here?

 

Now, much of all religions will be cultural. This means we do religious things because that is what we are  supposed to do in this culture. There is a lot of going-through-the-motions in all of the world’s religions.

 

When a believer draws closer to the very life and heart of God they experience in their own lives a growing love and compassion for their fellow human being. The relationship with the outpouring God, i.e., the Trintiy, motivates them to be outgoing towards others. As God is Father and creator of all, so now others become our sisters and brothers. Authentic religion always expands our heart, our world view and our society.

 

This is where the hunger for justice for others grows and matures. It first arises from a heart that shares the compassion and goodness of the holy Trintiy. How we live in God and the Holy Spirit within us flows to service and care for others.

 

Focus on the hungers that emerge from your own heart when you reflect on what God is doing and moving within your life.

 

Pay attention to the concern you feel when you go grocery shopping. Prices have increased 26 percent in the last five years. But wages, especially the wages at the bottom, have not increased. What is it like to be a single parent , trying to provide proper nourishment for your children, when your budget gets tighter every year.? Now, what kind of hunger , i.e., compassion, do you feel in your heart when you consider the people who shop for groceries but are at the bottom end of the wage scale?  How much of the concern for these parents comes from the Holy Spirit?

 

Canada has accepted many refugees (displaced people who had to flee from an unsafe country in which they were born) during the past twenty years. You reach out to help them get settled, learn Canadian business practices and get their kids into school. Where does this concern for displaced people come from?

 

Spend time listening to the hungers within your soul for others. These hungers  are so often God-given. The Spirit of God can move within us – but sometimes it is painful when you see your fellow human being suffer.

 

What hungers for justice and compassion do you experience?