I am the Bread of Life

 

 I suppose it’s only human nature to have faith in the things we see rather the things we can’t. God knew our nature long before and better than we did. The whole purpose of his incarnation in Jesus was for him to be able to reach us through our faculties and physical senses. Yet, its’ “natural,” our nature, to center our world around those attachments in our life that serve us well and are under control and those that sometimes seem to control us. So, we place out “faith” in things we can see and touch like career, finances, family, relationships, and our own ability to control our lives. Unfortunately, life has a way of reminding us that our faith in those things may not be rewarded in the way we planned or expected.

Most of us are likely to experience a significant disruption in our careers at least once in our lives, and our finances are no more reliable. We entrust our life savings to financial institutions that engage in what is basically a sophisticated form of gambling. And people—yes, our family, and our friends—are all flawed and fallible and imminently capable of doing what humans do, and disappoint us.

In a very real sense, most of what we invest our faith in falls under the category of “perishable things.” After feeding the 5000 with five loaves and two fish, Jesus and the disciples crossed the lake, only to find that the crowd had followed them there. When they approached him, he abruptly accused them of seeking the “food that perishes.” In the dialogue that followed, it would seem that they were looking for a repeat of the miracle of manna in the wilderness.



But Jesus was constantly aware of the dangers of an enabling faith that is rooted in visible results based on spectacle. Getting what you asked for without spiritual elbow grease is not faith. Whenever we get whatever we ask for, it’s a matter of time before we begin to want more. Jesus was calling his followers to a completely different kind of faith. He called them to cast their lot with the One that God has sent (John 6:24-35). He was calling them to a faith without external props that deals with unseen things, hoped for and real. St. Augustine said “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” The only “bread” that can truly satisfy our hunger is the bread that God offers us, the Bread of Life.



And the amazing truth is that when we take the risk of “casting our lot with the one whom God sent” to carry out God’s cause in the world, we find that somehow we experience a peace, a freedom, a quality of life that none of those “perishable things” can possibly provide. When we take the risk of faith and begin to quiet our restless hearts, we find the life God offers us truly satisfies us in ways we may never have expected.

Love Takes What You Have and Returns It More Beautiful Than Before

Is there any Gospel reading more familiar to us than Jesus feeding the multitudes (John 6: 1-15)Let’s put aside the inclination to call Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand a miracle. Why? Primarily because it misses the point and distracts us from the true miracles that take place in the story. John reminds us that the wonders Jesus performed throughout his ministry were signs, indications of the character of the God of love whose divine presence Jesus bears. Make no mistake, what Jesus did is anything but pedestrian but the point isn’t what Jesus did, but why he did it. Jesus reveals the God in him by his compassion, the hallmark of Jesus ministry. This single word summarizes God’s unconditional love for us and is at the core of his incarnation in Christ. 

Ok, let’s get back to our miracle… that was no minor endeavor. What we now call “food scarcity” was rampant in the ancient world. And so the disciples’ suggestion that the hordes of people go away and buy food isn’t just unrealistic it’s ridiculous. First, they were in a deserted place in the middle of nowhere, and second, they would likely not have any money to buy food anyway. And so Jesus tells his disciples to get over their self-concern and desire to be left alone, and feed them… themselves. 

Jesus had just heard about John the Baptist’s murder by King Herod at a feast. The metaphorical juxtaposition of images couldn’t be more powerful. After hearing the news, Jesus needed to retreat and be alone. John was his baptizer, teacher and mentor. Jesus, in the fullness of his humanity, yearned for solace. And yet manages to fulfill the consistent call of the Father to feed the hungry and heal the sick and fill the “empty.” 

Which brings us to the real miracle of the story: Jesus uses the disciples, even when they would rather look after themselves, to tend to the needs of these thousands of men, women, and children. They go from “we have nothing here but five loaves and fishes” to one of abundance to “thank you, God, for these five loaves and fishes.” Whatever their initial skepticism, or doubt, or self-indulgence, the disciples are caught up in Jesus’ words of abundance and “they all ate and were filled” as God worked through these reluctant disciples to care for the poor and hungry that he loves so much. 

And that miracle continues when a parent puts his/her own dreams aside to care for the needs of their children or aging parent. God is working that same miracle when a community of faith makes a promise that no one that comes to its doors will be turned away hungry, or when a Muslim family hides a Christian refugee from the wrath of murderous radicals. God is still at work performing miracles through us, his disciples eager, yet reluctant, and everything in between.  

The real wonder of this story is that it continues. God cares deeply and passionately for those who are most vulnerable:  the poor, the homeless, the hungry. And God continues to use us to care for them. 

Just maybe if we are serving our “needy,” however poor or rich, we are reminded of the similarity that exists between the scenes in John. Let those of us who have been fed by God’s heavenly food go and do likewise by sharing God’s love with all we meet and especially with those in deepest need. 

There are two miracles in this story. They have little to do with simply multiplying loaves and fishes, and by remembering them, we are hopefully prepared to continue to follow Jesus and care for those in need. And that is no small thing at a time like this. Thank you God, and thank God for you.

Summertime... and the Living is Easy

Rest… A break from all the bustle and activity. Rest…A chance to renew, to stop, to slow. Rest… And end of work, if only for a little while. Rest…An opportunity to stop doing that you may simply be. Rest…What a beautiful word!

Jesus' simple invitation in Mark 6:30-34  to "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest awhile" is not just an invitation to take an afternoon off or go on vacation -- though those may be important elements -- this is an invitation to loosen our shackles and climb out of the cages we've constructed from a culturally-fed belief that more is the ticket to happiness and that work is the ticket to more.

Maybe that's the key thing about rest and our Scripture discussion and reflection? They provide a chance to step back from all the things that usually consume us so that we might experience God's presence and a sense of contentment and give thanks.

Jesus wants us to rest. He wants us to recognize the “trap” we call success and the rat race we call modern life. He wants us to reflect on how much time we really spend together and actually enjoy the things we’ve worked so hard to attain.

God wants us to live an abundant life. Abundant life doesn't consist of merely more and more. "Abundant" ultimately isn't a quantitative term but a qualitative one. How do we begin? Maybe we might consider just one evening when we will shut down our computer, or turn off our cell phones or, say no to one obligation or appointment. After all, it’s summertime and the living is easy.

 

 

Jesus ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics." (Mark 6:7-13)

I've often thought how I'd feel if I had to immediately leave home on a moment’s notice with no time to take anything except  the clothes I was wearing. I am reminded of some catastrophic events or acts of terror that have forced some unfortunate people to escape with nothing but the clothes on their backs and I wonder how they managed to do this. Although there have been times when I have had to travel for a family emergency or for a so-called business "crisis," and while time was of the essence, I still was able to give some thought as to what I needed to take with me. In any case, I was what you might call a "defensive packer." With a variety of lists in hand, covering any possible venue, destinations or time of year, I packed for a myriad of "what ifs" that rarely would ever materialize. In retrospect I often wonder why I needed to be so over-prepared, doubling up on apparel and anything else on my list. This preparedness was not necessarily limited to packing my luggage.

Jesus tells his disciples to travel light and rely on the kindness of strangers. Of course, the world in the time of Jesus was much different from our modern world today. At that time, Jewish travelers would often stay in the home of another member of their community in deference to the Jewish purity code. While Jesus’ message was offered to all, we know that it was not welcomed by everyone. After all, look at the rejection Jesus experienced earlier in this story. To that end, Jesus tells them that if they did encounter resistance, they not be discouraged or detained in their journey but rather they should “shake the dust from their sandals” and continue on.

What Jesus asked of his disciples required considerable trust, in that the disciples were “commissioned” to immediately follow his instructions, without question or reservation and begin to preach the good news. Needless to say this required implicit confidence in Jesus. 

So, how does my need to over prepare for a journey relate to this gospel? Perhaps it was a lack of confidence or trust in myself that required that my preparation was extreme? Perhaps in letting go of the trappings and the non-essentials that really got in the way, I am more open to the knowledge that all will go well…and I just needed to trust myself and others more. Think of all the unnecessary clutter in our lives that gets in the way of our relationship with one another. Richard Rohr reminds us that the God in me loves the God in you. Those things in our lives that we once regarded as essential get in the way of our connectedness with one another, and therefore with God.

The disciples were given the authority by Jesus to preach the gospel, heal the sick and cast out demons. What meaning can we apply to healing the sick and casting out demons today? Perhaps liberating those who are imprisoned by sadness and depression, or giving hope to those who think that their lives no longer have any meaning we can heal the sick and “cast out demons.” However in order for us to do this we must trust God and remain focused on what is essential. 

So while I cannot equate my learning to travel lighter with the confidence that all will go well, I'm now better prepared;  I can appreciate what it means to trust and let go of the unnecessary baggage filled with past regrets and the unrealized “what ifs” of my life that get in the way of my drawing closer to God. We know that the lives of those who welcome the gospel are transformed. It's a journey.

So, what is it that gives us a greater sense of security, or when have we had to go beyond our fears and set out with very little? 

Little boy false
In search of little boy true
Will you be ever done traveling,
Always unraveling you, you?
Running away
Could lead you further astray

And as for fishing in streams
For pieces of dreams,
Those pieces will never fit
What is the sense of it?
(Pieces of Dreams, Legrand, Bergman and Bergman)
 

A prophet is not without honor...

Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that, like us, Jesus was not born fully mature. Luke in his gospel, writes “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.” Like us, he fully entered into the human journey. Yet when he returned home, he was ridiculed and scorned. How could this lowly carpenter, Mary and Joseph’s son, be capable of knowing and doing such notable things. He did not fit into the world of His family and old friends. He was no longer what his home town folks of Nazareth expected him to be. They did not trust him. In a culture that measured a person's worth by his place in society, Jesus had clearly exceeded anything one would have expected from an itinerant carpenter. Carpenters were poorly regarded as men who left their families without economic security to seek work. They did not even have the respect of their own families. (Mark 6:1-6)

God’s divine revelation in creation is evident everywhere. Needless to say God was not silent for the 14 billion years before Scriptures were written. Although God was incarnated in the world at the very beginning of time, His relationship with man was made manifest to the world in the incarnation of Jesus. Jesus helped us to understand God’s unconditional love for us and showed us how to share God’s love with one another. While present one with the father throughout all creation as “Christ,” the second person, Jesus enters our world to proclaim the Kingdom of God and our way back to the Father.