Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ
“Give them some food yourselves.” Lk. 9:13
Can we practice what we preach?
This is the classic question we people of faith have to answer in our lives.
Another way of putting it is: Are we able to extend the abundance we have received to other people in dire need?
Today’s Gospel demands a response from each of us. In fact, this story of the feeding of the five thousand is so important that it is the only miracle found in all four Gospels. The reason is that this miraculous experience best represents the most complete collection of the main themes of the entire New Testament: mercy, hospitality, generosity, and God’s overflowing abundance of love.
“Who is this?”
Herod asks this question in a passage that precedes this story. Who is this Jesus “about whom I hear such things?” Herod’s referring to the curing of diseases, the healing of the blind and lame, and the hope and optimism and amazement that Jesus’ actions and teachings are creating in the people.
“Who is this?”
Jesus’ answer is: I am the one who feeds the people.
The people were hungry. They were so famished and impoverished that the need for food is found in every chapter of Luke’s gospel. Repeatedly we are presented with references to table fellowship, eating on the Sabbath, harvests, and killing the fatted calf for the prodigal son. And then there are the two culminating meals, the one with Jesus’ disciples before the crucifixion, and the other a meal at Emmaus after the resurrection.
Food is everywhere in this gospel. Why?
The people were hungry.
They needed food to meet their most basic physical needs. And they needed spiritual food to satisfy their most basic spiritual needs – the needs of their heart.
Jesus wanted to provide both. But he didn’t want to make this feeding of the thousands a one-time thing. He wanted it to be the center piece of his mission. That is why when the disciples wanted Jesus to “send the crowd away,” they were rebuked with this command: “Give them some food yourselves.”
Those same words are meant for us as well. According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, nearly 800 million people throughout the world – one out of every nine – suffer from “chronic undernourishment.” Children are the most obvious victims. The primary cause is poverty. Just as it was for the people Jesus addressed some 2000 years ago.
Almost 15% of American households, including some where both adults work, are “food insecure.” These families are too poor to buy food for themselves.
On a spiritual level, the need is equally dire. All of us need to be fed – continually. Each of us is faced with the everyday issues that affect our heart and soul: depression, anxiety, feelings of failure, resentment, anger, loss of loved ones, addiction, health concerns, and a host of others.
That’s why at the last meal with his disciples before Jesus died, he implored them to “Do this in memory of me.” Have this meal. Be nourished. Feed one another. Encourage each other. Share whatever abundance you have with one another.
This is what we do each Sunday. We come together to do again what Jesus did on the night before he gave himself away totally out of love. We come together to be fed, to be challenged, to be encouraged, to be lifted up, to be sent out refreshed and re-committed to feed and nourish others.
Can we practice what we preach?
If yes, we will daily commit ourselves to fulfilling Jesus’ command: “Give them some food yourselves.”
Ted Wolgamot, Psy.D.
11809194.1
5/26/16
