Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

FR MICHAEL BIBLICAL IMAGERY

(Fr Michael Boakye Yeboah: Vice Rector of St Gregory Seminary, Kumasi-Ghana)

TOO LITTLE, TOO MUCH

            Today’s readings highlight the “extreme” kindness of God; and how he has made his Church the hub of charity. The “extremeness” of his kindness can be found in the first reading whereby he invites all people to come with nothing and receive their bounty. Men and women with too little always encounter God who gives them too much. Whenever I wake up and I am breathing regularly; I can’t but burst out in Audrey Assad’s song “New Every Morning.” My sisters and brothers, what God does for us every morning is awesome and beautiful and may his name be praised now and forever. Amen.

            The context for the Gospel of the multiplication of the loaves is significant. John the Baptist has been beheaded; Jesus is also probably in danger (Luke 13:31ff), and he pulls back. The crowd follows him, compassion conquers him again: he teaches them and heals. Then the disciples come up with the thought that the people should be dismissed so that they can buy food for their evening meal but Jesus intervenes with a fatherly suggestion: “Give them something to eat.” God’s revelation in Christ is tied to the needs of humankind.

            The Church is there to continue the charitable deeds of Christ. In the miracle of the multiplication of loaves, one needs to underline its pastoral significance. Jesus offers himself and by offering himself, he stresses his 24/7 availability to serve and attend to the needs of the people he has been sent to minister. The disciples wanted to pick the easier way; “…please let us send them off so that they can find food for themselves.” But Jesus told them to be available to the people and find all possible means to serve the needs of the thousands of people who were gathered there that day. I would like to think that even if Jesus did not find food for them, his mere willingness to help them could have been heart-warming to the people. One of the things that attracted people to attend church during the days of the missionaries was their availability. The missionaries were so committed to serve the people to the extent that they made it their duty to provide for things that were not directly connected to the proclamation of the Gospel. In preaching the Word of God, they also made it their duty to build schools, hospitals, and provide for other basic amenities of the people. Some of the missionaries provided for the people out of their own resources.

            Today, we are still blessed with priests who are available to serve the needs of the people of God. We still have priests who go to places that ordinary people will not go and spend the night to offer Masses and celebrate the other sacraments. Some priests are actively involved in providing clean water to ordinary folks in villages; building schools and hospitals. Until the Government of Ghana introduce free High School Education, some priests were involved in paying school fees of hundreds of brilliant but needy students. The goodness and generosity of some priests have led to the education of doctors, nurses and other professionals. Like Christ, priests ought to be present to attend to the needs of the people of God. Celebrating the sacraments are not the only responsibility of priests. Jesus could have told the people, ‘okay, I have finished preaching and administered the sacrament of the sick to your sick people; so now is the time for you to go home and find food for yourselves.’ Jesus did not do that though it was the preferred choice of his disciples.

            The house of God, is where people come with their “little” and return with the “plenty” of God. But we should note that there can be such a miracle of multiplication whereby each person gets something when others who have been blessed with much resources are ready to share. Remember, it was the donation of the boy with the loaves of bread that led to the multiplication of thousands of loaves. Others should always be ready to give so that the Church can also reach out to thousands of people who need help. It is in this light I pray God to bless the “millions” of Catholics who donate everyday so that the Church can meet up her charitable goals. Please our dear lay faithful, receive God’s blessings and may God who love cheerful givers bless you abundantly. In most cases behind every charitable deed of the Church is a generous benefactor/benefactress.

            There can be no other relationship between God and man than the one described in the first reading, and it surpasses any relationship that a human mind can take in at first glance. “You who have no money, come… Come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk.” This simply means that only the gratis nature of love and grace can satisfy the soul’s abysmal hunger. This, however, also means that some inclination toward this gratis nature must either be present in the soul or be produced in it by the free gift itself. No one could satiate himself with God’s priceless love if (s)he calculatingly receives it and hoards it for himself/herself. All calculation must be dismissed if a man/woman is to enter into the “eternal covenant” God offers him/her.

            Finally, what follows upon such an entry is shown by St. Paul’s exuberant song of triumph in the second reading. Through God’s utter sacrifice of all that he has, he becomes the source from which the covenant is made an “eternal” one. And he who truly agrees to this flood of givenness enters into the eternalness that is found beyond all sort of earthly threat and trial. “Nothing can separate us” – not because we have the strength to “conquer” everything, but because all the strength needed for that comes from the “love of God” that “is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.”