That nothing be lost

By F. Luis Casasus, General Superior of idente missionaries
Commentary on the XVII Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 29 2018,  New York.
(2nd book of Kings 4:42-44; Letter to the Ephesians 4:1-6; Saint John 6:1-15.)

It is very significant how in the miracle of the multiplication of the food from five barley loaves and two fish, Jesus confirms the surprising response of the Providence to our humble efforts: In the First Reading, the prophet Elisha told the one who brought food for him: Give it to the people to eat…and the hundred men ate. In the Letter to the Ephesians we read today that St. Paul was just a prisoner of the Lord and in those conditions he managed to confirm and encourage the communities he founded. Analogously, it was an innocent and fragile boy, eager and willing to share what he had, his own lunch, who made possible Jesus’ miracle.
Even more, everything starts with a request for help from Jesus: Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?
What is the reason for this question?
* Firstly, Jesus knows our true needs. When the Gospel text says that Christ asked his question in order to test Philip; that does not mean that He was testing their wits and creativity. He was rather stimulating the sensitivity of the disciples. That is, as human beings, as followers of Christ, we need to be led by the Spirit which means that we receive day-to-day guidance from him (Rom 8:14). This is so much more than living according to some high moral standards, this has to do with the motivations of our heart. God, by his Spirit, wants to have an active participation in our lives, including not only our circumstantial decisions and priorities, but changing our eyes, our ears and our heart: Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him (I Cor. 2:9). Yes; according to our nature, we are very aware that it is more blessed to give than to receive, we know that fullness of our mission of mercy is the perfection we are seeking in Christ. This is why sins of omission are so dangerous for perfection, because they usually go unnoticed by our poor human sensitivity. When we miss a single opportunity to do any type of good, we cease to represent Christ and we cut off our dialogue with the divine persons, closing our doors to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. What sense would it make to
receive gifts and strengths when I have not fully used the skills and talents I already have? This is the true and serious laziness, when we let a moment go to waste, when we do not collect in our baskets what we think is of little value or useless. Nothing I have received should be lost; everything, even my ability to smile or the inspiration to perform a simple gesture of affection…are called to change lives; in the same way that the five loaves and the two fish awakened the faith of many. Do I with all my strength? The question is whether I want to surrender the little I have to Him. And if I do it with all my strength, I will see that there is more than enough to feed everyone.
* Secondly, God does not want to perform miracles alone. Even when Christ raised Lazarus from the dead, He needed Martha and the Jews to assist Him to take away the stone (Jn 11:39-41). This, of course, is not a divine limitation, but a generous gesture of trust and honor. Yes, our God is a God of surprises for those willing to be generous. Allow me to illustrate it with this story of the first years of the twentieth century:
A man was crossing the Atlantic on a transatlantic ship. One night, as he was confined to his cabin due to seasickness, he heard the cry: Man overboard! He felt that there was nothing he could do to help, but he said to himself: I can at least put my lantern in the porthole. He struggled to his feet and hung the light so it would shine out into the darkness. The next day he learned that the person had been rescued and had told others: I was going down in the dark night for the last time when someone put a light in a porthole. As it shone on my hand, a sailor in a lifeboat grabbed it and pulled me in. God has chosen us to reach out and bring light into the darkness, to light up the lives of others, no matter how small or insignificant we may feel.
What are the consequences of the above in our spiritual life?
First of all, we are reminded of the true meaning and the main consequence of our love for Christ: Feed my sheep. Many of us are just content with simply a “balanced spiritual life”, avoiding moral deterioration and generously and regularly helping people around us. Ironically, these good habits prevent us to reach the top of our vocation: if I live out the Gospel, I am supposed to transmit it. This is what we are called to do: To take our lives both poor and wealthy; strong and weak, give thanks to God, and completely share this with others. The miracle went far beyond solving a logistic food problem. The crowd became a true community, everyone sharing each one’s wealth and poverty, weakness and strength. Jesus created a genuine community.
Jesus raised his eyes and saw a large crowd. Is that what happens to me? Or rather, I only see that we need more collaborators, more vocations, or more parishioners…Do I primarily see those who have to be reached? They are around us, they do not need to be discovered, although those who have already been touched by the Spirit need particular attention, perhaps because they have been healed or they feel empty and thirsty of spirituality, even if most of them deny it. This is why the people anticipated where Jesus was headed and, by walking along the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, the crowds joined Him.
How can we start this task? Jesus gives an answer today: Have the people recline, spend time with your brothers and sisters, sharing our meals, our dreams, our concerns with them. As the saying goes, to know a person, one has to eat with him several times. Or, in the words of our Father Founder, the first step in our apostolic mission is to make friends. We are called to celebrate together, eat together, grieve together, play together, and whenever possible, have the intimate, joyful bond of praying together. Otherwise, I will never truly know my neighbor and misinterpretation and suspicion will invade our relationships, leading to fear. This happens whenever there is a difference: age, gender, culture, hobbies, …True unity can only be produced by Christ. Now, we should not forget that there is a second step, mainly feeding people with spiritual food, and the source would be Christ Himself. We would have to replenish our supply of spiritual food continually by maintaining a close relationship with Him (Yes: Eucharist, Prayer and Gospel), but we are responsible for feeding our neighbors.
An important example of seizing opportunities to feed people: We should help young people participate in the Mass by encouraging them to arrive with an intercessory intention, just as we can deepen our own spirituality of the Mass by taking to heart St. Timothy’s exhortation: I urge that supplication, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for all people. In fact, the Mass, as a sacrifice and as a banquet, is the model of oblation, because it is done in union with the oblation or sacrifice of Jesus Christ. There is an immediate relationship between the celebration of the Eucharist and care for the materially, emotionally and spiritually poor. Logic and human reason often say to us that we are too young, too weak, too few, too ignorant or, worse still, somehow divided and imperfect. We feel we have nothing to give. But if we try to accomplish this mission together in unity and love, praying for those brothers who disagree with us and avoiding scandals and division, God will be pleased with our offer and our efforts and He will make our witnessing credible and fruitful.