For the readings of today's mass, go to https://www.livingwithchrist.ca/images/article_images/pdf/Aug_2_Pages_from_LWC_August2020-lowres-2.pdf
You have enough – for you have been blessed. We have enough – for we have been blessed.
In today’s gospel we hear of a problem – thousands and thousands of hungry people. What to do? An easy solution, which the Jesus’ disciples put forward, is to say, “Hey, that’s their problem, not ours. They can take care of themselves – they should have thought about bringing food along with them.” But Jesus says, “You do have enough – for you have been blessed”. “But we’ve only got five loaves and two fish!” “You have enough”. So, the loaves and the fish are first blessed, and then shared - and there was more than enough.
One thing I have always found fascinating about the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes is that we never really get the details as to how the bread is multiplied. Did the bread keep on replicating itself as it was passed? Did some people see what was happening and begin to share some of their bread that they had secretly stashed away? No one knows – for none of the evangelists ever gives us the details. But one thing for sure – it turned out that there was more than enough – for they had been blessed by God.
In my 8 plus years at Nativity you have heard me say more than a few times how blessed we are by God. In our lives, everything we need comes from God, even the gift of life itself, and in turn, we are asked to make good use of all of what God has entrusted to us. Truly, we do not own or control the time, talent, or treasures with which God has blessed us in our own short time on this earth - we are simply stewards of those gifts. They are given to us by God – and at some point in the future they will be given back to God – as we cannot take them with us when we die. Again - God has blessed each one of us with all that we are, all that we have. Everything is gift.
Now some may ask where does this teaching come from? Well, it certainly a constant teaching in the Bible, especially in the parables of Jesus. Just read Matthew 25, for example. However, this teaching is first outlined in the Bible at the beginning of the Book of Genesis. We read that the original Man and Woman, Adam and Eve, are entrusted with God’s Garden. They are told that they may enjoy it, and they are given responsibility for it. But they do not own it. However, they were deceived by the Serpent with the illusion of self sufficiency, and so they desired to control everything in the Garden. By forgetting that God has told them that they are stewards of God’s garden, they end up being banished. What a sad story. But just like Adam and Eve, we too can easily be deceived by our ideas of self grandeur and self sufficiency. Let me give an example.
Have you ever noticed that in some segments of the media and the business world we are called “consumers”? Not people, but “consumers”. And when you think about it, isn’t it awful that we can be considered as just merely “consumers”, consumers who devour the goods of the earth. And if all that we are is simply “consumers”, then inevitably we will fall into lives of greed. For tragically, we will end up being consumed and possessed by the very same goods we are enticed to consume and possess. But the good and faithful Christian, faithful in word and action to the teachings of Jesus Christ, correctly understands who we are. We are not “consumers” – we are servants of God. And those things that the consumer craves to possess – things like material goods and treasure – you know how the faithful servant of God sees them? Gifts from God that we briefly enjoy on this earth - gifts from God to be accepted with gratitude, then nurtured, and used and shared generously. For the faithful servant of God realizes how we have been blessed.
I have seen so many parishioners put those blessings into action, which would have made our Lord so proud. Let me give two examples – one that involves families from afar – and one that is local.
Many of our parishioners either come from the Philippines or have roots there. A wonderful tradition of material support for family members back in the Philippines is the use of what is known as the Balikbayan box. These Balikbayan boxes are in fact crates, which Filipino- Canadian families here fill with things such as clothing, canned goods, even sacks of rice. These crates are shipped back to their extended families in the Philippines. For those members of our parish who have been generously and gratefully sharing of your time and treasure in sending Balikbayan boxes back home, do you realize that you have been good and faithful servants of God? For you have lived out the teachings of Jesus by sharing what you have with your family members back home.
Example #2 – our parish St. Vincent de Paul Society boxes. Our St. Vincent de Paul Society, which has 30 active members serves the needs of the poor in this area – through food vouchers, clothing vouchers, Christmas hampers, registering children for soccer and basketball and baseball, and visits to the Etobicoke South detention Centre. Whether it is through your personal involvement as a Vincentian, or in your donations to support our Nativity St. Vincent de Paul, you have lived out that teaching of Jesus from Matthew 25, “Whatever you did for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me”.
We have enough – for we have been blessed. How good is God to all of us! But the question that each one of us is continually called to answer is: How have you been sharing those blessings with others? Remember, God has a very long memory – and God never forgets the good things we do for others.