Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time_B - Will Work For Food_080121

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Will Work For Food”

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

We are all too familiar with someone holding a sign that says, “WILL WORK FOR FOOD”. Perhaps some are scam artists but others are sincere and will do whatever they can to earn some money to buy food for the day. When you are hungry enough, you get desperate. Today in our first reading, the Israelites are desperate. They complain to Moses because they didn’t have enough to eat and longed to be back in Egypt where they had enough food… Imagine trading your freedom for a slice of bread!

God hears the cries of his people, which is a major theme of the Old Testament, and gives them their “daily portion” of bread from heaven in the form of manna to sustain them. It’s interesting to see that they received only a daily portion and that God tested them to see if they followed his instruction. You see, the manna only lasted one day. If you gathered up more than your daily portion, “it became wormy and rotten”. (Ex 16:20)

This story from Exodus is a prelude to the Eucharistic banquet Jesus would institute at the Last Supper and that we have been called to share today. The bread from heaven given to the Jews in the desert was meant to nourish them for that day and that day only. They were not allowed to store it up for the future. No, they needed to experience the mystery of God’s presence and caring for them each and every day. And…. so do we!

This idea that we need a daily encounter with the divine is “food” for thought. Unfortunately, most of us are not able to get to Mass on a daily basis to receive Holy Communion. In that case, we can always turn to Sacred Scripture for our daily bread. For that too is the source of the spiritual nourishment we need to cope with the challenges and difficulties we face in this life. In Scripture we can also find real food, food that will last and give us the strength and courage to live each day as it comes. For Christ’s presence in our lives is all that we hunger for, all that we need to fulfill every desire and longing of our hearts.

I have found Fr. Mike Schmitz, "Bible in a Year" Podcast an excellent vehicle for reading the entire Bible. You can find it on Apple of Spotify and perhaps other media. Not only will you read the Bible in a year, you will also get some fine commentary on the readings from Fr. Mike. I hope you will look into this for it is a wonderful way to up our game when it comes to knowledge of Scripture. 

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time_A - Pushing Through The Darkness_080220

Deacon Tom Writes,

Pushing Through The Darkness

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Jesus gets some very sad news in today’s gospel.  He hears that his close friend and cousin, John the Baptist, has been brutally murdered. It is only natural that he wanted to escape to a quiet spot and grieve. We all know this feeling, the need to withdraw, get away to our favorite place and just “be” and recover from whatever it is that has stopped us in our tracks, sucked the oxygen out of us or dropped us to our knees. It’s good for us to know that Jesus is just like us in this way. When he hears about John, Jesus needs time to process the loss of someone that he loved so much. 

But that’s not what happened! Jesus’ followers wouldn’t give him the chance to get away. When Jesus saw that the crowd was pursuing him, “his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.” Jesus’ sorrow and pain at the loss of John is redirected outward to others who were suffering in so many ways. As Jesus grieves the loss of a loved one, he acts with compassion and mercy to alleviate the pain and suffering of others. 

Christ gives us a good example here.  We are connected with one another in our common experiences of life… the good and the bad, the happy and the sad.  The good times and the happy events seem to take care of themselves.  We want to come together and share those moments of joy. On the other hand, the sad events of life, the sicknesses, the disappointments, the deaths or the loss of things that are important to us are all very difficult for us to take and it helps when others stand by our side in these dark experiences in our lives. On these occasions we tend to isolate and withdraw from everyone else.  But even when we are suffering ourselves, like Christ, we must not neglect the need of others. It is by giving of self during these times of darkness that we experience God’s goodness just as Christ did.  For the multiplication of the loaves would not have occurred had Jesus withdrawn into himself. The crowd would not have experienced this astonishing miracle that gives us a foretaste of the mystery of the Eucharist. Jesus endured his own time of darkness and ended the darkness of others because he trusted God in all things. He asks us to do the same as we continue on our journey of faith and as we struggle to overcome the divisions we face on so many fronts.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom