17th Sunday OT
We don't have to do a close reading of this Gospel miracle to figure out what's going on: God is providing for those who follow Him. This is the consistent story of salvation history since the Word was breathed into the void. Everything created – you, me, planets, atoms, everything created – is provided for and held in being by God Himself. From a story about feeding a mass of people from a child's meager offering of fish and bread, we get a much more profound story about how God the Father gives us what we need. We need food, shelter, and clothing to survive. But surviving isn't enough. We need to thrive. We need to be perfected. Made truly fully human and returned to the source of our being. The story we heard read this morning – John's version of the feeding of the 5,000 – retells a familiar story that's been told again and again through the centuries. When God's people need Him, when they recognize their need and turn to Him, He is always there, providing in abundance everything required for surviving and thriving in the created world. What we need most is God Himself. And we have Him in abundance right here and right now in the Eucharist.
That God provides for us is evident in the fact that we are here. We exist. That's basic. Beyond mere existence, we are in a chapel giving Him thanks and praise for His many gifts. Most especially His gift of sacrificial love in Christ Jesus. His gift of salvation. We will give Him praise and thanks for our families and friends; our vocations as husbands, wives, religious, and priests. For our careers and what wealth we may have. We could go on and on listing out all that we have to be thankful for. But what we can most thankful for is all that we have not yet received. All that has been given but not yet taken in and put to use. The people Jesus feeds with fish and bread are filled at that moment. But soon enough they will be hungry again. Will they follow him all over the countryside, hoping and waiting for another miracle? Maybe some will. If they are paying attention, they will understand that God's providence is not dependent on a single miracle or even a series of miracles. That He provides is His nature. He always provides. He always gives and gives and gives. He Himself is The Gift He gives. And we are His created gift-receivers. The question is: are we receiving His gifts as He gives them?
The people who eat the fish and bread in John's story have in front of them real, tangible evidence of God's love. They have food to touch, to smell, to taste. Can they touch, smell, and taste their salvation? Can they handle, see their redemption from sin and death? Can we? We might say that we can feel forgiven, or that we can feel the burden of sin lifted. And that's a good thing. But do we live day to day, hour to hour in that freedom? Or do we permit the memory of sin to lock us down with imaginary chains? Maybe we give shame, anger, the need for vengeance permission to dominate, to suffocate our growth in holiness. Maybe we prefer to wallow a bit in past hurts, long ago slights, and a fear of the scarcity of grace. Are you receiving God's gifts as He gives them? Those hungry people took the fish and bread and ate their fill. They didn't hesitate. Their hunger to be fed overwhelmed whatever qualms they might have had and they ate. What qualms do you have about being fed with all that God has to give you? What's stopping you from being fully free in Christ Jesus? The Enemy will use whatever you have to keep you hungry, angry, vengeful, lost, and near death. Take and eat. God will that you thrive. And He gives you everything you need.
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