Today, I would like to approach our gospel in two ways. The first way is as a reminder to be on the lookout for God’s grace. The second way is a version of the first: to be on the lookout for opportunities to cooperate with God’s grace.
As some of you know, I have been on holiday for the last few weeks. It was a great break, and a time of real blessings. However, the final journey home is always a bit of a stretch, in that I usually need a big one. This time, though, the trip was seamless, and I got to the baggage section at Tullamarine in record time. Everything was going smoothly up until that moment. And then we had about a two hour wait for the luggage to arrive. You could sense the frustration of the growing crowd. After a long time, we were informed that there was a delay, which by that stage was pretty obvious and just added to the annoyance factor. People were tired and wanted to get home.
Eventually the luggage arrived and we got through customs. By that stage, the word had got around the waiting families that there was only one person working all the planes that were arriving; one person getting all the luggage. Now this was obviously poor planning by the airport, but later on I got to thinking about that one person. I had been focussing on getting my luggage, and had not even considered the possibility that one person was doing everything he or she could to ensure that I did.
It occurred to me that if I was in the crowd that was being fed by Jesus, I would probably be at the back, grumbling about how long it was taking to get my food, completely missing the wondrous work that was taking place. It would probably not even have occurred to me to ask where all the food had come from. My horizons would have been too small. My eyes would have been focussed on my stomach.
So perhaps one thing to consider regarding today’s gospel is: How am I approaching life? What is my basic outlook: is it Eucharistic, one of thanksgiving, or is it self-centred, even if I have all the excuses in the world, like being tired or cramped or whatever?
The second way I would like to approach this gospel, as I said, is a variation of the first: am I on the lookout for opportunities not simply to notice God’s grace, but to cooperate with it? That is: do I not only see God’s gift to me, but opportunities where God wants to give me to another?
I was struck by this in a discussion I had about our upcoming parish meeting, the one that we have now postponed. As part of that meeting, I want us to begin to consider our leadership structures. I was discussing this with Thien and an adviser from the diocese, Jacqui Giuliano.
We were talking about the growing sense of volunteering in our communities. Jacqui, however, cautioned us about the idea of volunteering. She said being part of a parish is not the same things as volunteering. It is more than that. Being part of a parish is being part of the Body of Christ. Our creation, our baptism, our confirmation kits each one of us in a special way to contribute to the life of the community. Each one of us is not a volunteer but a necessary part of the life of the Church. She reminded me that each baptised person had something to offer, something that the parish needed.
We see this in the various accounts of Jesus feeding the crowds, whether with food or with his teaching. He always is on the lookout. He always notices their needs. And when he does, he calls his disciples together. He asks to use their boats. He asks what food people have. He empowers his disciples to distribute the graces, whether that be food or healing.
This is how we have to be. We need to be on the lookout. We need to contribute both our attention and then ourselves. We might be the person to notices that a lot of our neighbours are struggling in a certain way. Or perhaps not struggling, but just lacking a certain type of joy. We might be the person who can see an opportunity to celebrate, or who can join the dots of a number of different conversations, or even just put into words something that has gone unsaid.
And just because we spot the need, the moment, the articulation, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we are the ones who have the answer. The eye has its role to play, the hand has its role to play, the heart has its role to play. Someone else might be able to imagine a response. As a parish, we need each one of us to make the offering of ourselves, trusting that the Holy Spirit will knit us together in such a way that we can reveal God’s love in the world.
Perhaps then we might pray for these eyes to see. To see not only the gifts that God is already giving us, but also the gifts that God wants to give through us. Let’s pray that as a Christian community, God will continue to build us up, precisely so that he can feed his people, our brothers and sisters.
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