Sunday Homily 7-31-11, 18th Ordinary Time
Readings: Isaiah 55, 1-3; Psalm 145, The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs; Romans 8, 35, 37-39; Matthew 14, 13-21. Excellent readings this week.
4 Preliminary Observations:
1. Today, July 31. The Jesuit Feast Day, St. Ignatius Loyola’s church feast, founder of Society of Jesus, Jesuits. I was a Jesuit for 4 years short of 50 years.
a. Time of Ignatius: 1491-1556, vibrant Europe, Spain of Ferdinand & Isabella, expulsion of the Jews & the Moors from the Alhambra in Grenada in 1492, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, death of Lorenzo the Magnificent of Florence in 1492, Copernicus, Galileo, & Martin Luther. Luther is almost a contemporary of Ignatius. He posted his 95 theses in 1517 & the revolution began. Inquisition time: the monk Giordano Bruno burned at the stake for his ideas, 1600, Campo dei Fiori, Rome. See his statue today.
b. Place of Ignatius: from Loyola Castle, Basque Province, Spain. He was military, badly wounded in the legs at Pamplona, Navarre, where the bulls run. He was converted while recuperating from leg operations. At Manresa, Catalonia, Spain Ignatius came out with a vision.
c. Accomplishments of Ignatius: founded a little company which reached 36,000 in the 60’s. He stressed military self discipline, obedience to authority, education, and spiritual growth especially with his Spiritual Exercises.
2. Isaiah 55: 3 beautiful invitations, come, come, come. The very last chapter of Isaiah II trying to encourage the Israelites in the Babylonian period, ca. 550 B.C.
3. Psalm 145 & Romans 8. That special line again, The Lord is gracious & merciful, does not get angry and is abounding in love.
Paul is winding up Romans and is almost poetic, claiming that even cosmic events cannot separate us from God’s love.
4. Feeding the 10 thousand. This story is repeated in all 4 gospel stories. In fact, it is told 6 times. Get ready. To convey what I think is the main miracle of this story I have to tell a story from my time in East Africa.
Sources: St. Louis U. Liturgies, Reginald Fuller, Daniel Westberg, John Pilch, Larry Gillick, & Wikipedia
Touched into Trust & Sharing
This story happened to me when I was living in East Africa in the 70’s & 80’s. It exemplifies for me how this miracle could at least have been Jesus’ touching the people's hearts, so that they trusted one another and shared their hidden goods.
It started in Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania. One evening I boarded an overnight train from Dar to a town near Kilimanjaro, where we Jesuits had a small house which I used as a base.
For some crazy reason I had to buy a ticket at the last minute. This gave me only a spot on the train, no bunk, no seat, just a spot.
We pulled out at sunset, always at 7:00 because it is close to the equator. I was sitting on a suit case & expecting to stay there until we arrived at Kilimanjaro at 6:00 in the morning. The train, of course, was packed. People & kids everywhere, even an occasional chicken. I felt right at home, though I knew I had a long night ahead of me.
About 1:00 A.M. the train stops. No word about what. I never found out. After an hour I get off and lie on the train bed. If the train moved & I was asleep, I would hear it and hop on. Though I did not sleep. Mosquitoes for one thing.
The train sat there until 7:00 the following evening.
I cannot believe how dumb I was that night. I was a veteran of Tanzania. I knew how things broke down. I had not taken any food or water with me.
Because I spoke the language with no problem, I could have asked the Tanzanians for food & water, but I did not want to drink the water, which was probably unpurified. As the day passed, they ate & drank along the tracks in the shade of a few frangipani trees.
Finally I noticed another white couple, Germans. I got water from them & was okay. Eventually, they stayed at our house a couple of days and I climbed Kilimanjaro with them.
The people on that train, with the exception of one dumb white guy, they traveled with provisions. They had food & water for emergencies.
I would propose that the 10 thousand people sitting around Jesus & his apostles, they were just like the Tanzanians. They traveled with emergency provisions. Like the Tanzanians, also, they did not trust the others whom they did not know and certainly did not share their provisions. They were accustomed to shortages. Hang on to what you got, because you don’t know when you will have nothing.
What happened with Jesus did not happen on the train. Jesus took a piece of the bread and fish, and he passed it on. The next person received it, took a bit, and then, thinking it would be fitting, put in a little of his or her own cache. Eventually, when everyone has had the food pass them & they have contributed, 12 baskets are left over (a symbol likely connected with the 12 apostles).
Jesus touched the hearts of the people and caused a miracle to take place. They trusted one another and shared their provisions. These miracles do take place today. I saw them in the mountains of Colorado the past two weeks.
How are you sharing your provisions? How do you show you trust your neighbor?
Picture 1: Mass begins
Picture 2: New choir member, Hue
Picture 3: Sisters, Cindy (her birthday) & Marlene
Picture 4: Barb & Warren
Picture 5: Sienna offers to help Ray
Picture 6: Sienna ready to sing
