17th Sunday - B

My brothers and sisters!
Do you believe in miracles? Some people don’t believe it. They are very proud of their rational thinking. They think that they can explain miracles with their reason. For example, what happened in today’s gospel, according to them, is simple. At that time, it was not only the boy who brought bread and fish, but nearly most of the crowd. When the boy gave his bread and fish to Jesus, the other people were ashamed to keep their own food for themselves, so they shared their food also … and all took out their own food. And usually people bring more then they can eat. That’s why they had twelve baskets of fragments left. So the miracle, what Jesus did, is just to open their heart for the need of others. This explanation seems reasonable.
But I don’t agree with this. I believe in miracles. So in my opinion, there was nobody coming to hear or to see Jesus with their sack of supplies. They didn’t come to Jesus as if they had planed it before, as if they were going to a picnic. They didn’t plan it. It was a spontaneous crowd following Jesus, after they had seen the healing of a sick. So the crowd really didn’t have anything to eat. They didn’t prepare it.
How about the boy with the five barley loaves and two fish? Yes, he was the only one who had food with him. How and why? In my opinion, he might have been sent by his mother to buy some food in a market, not far from the Sea of Galilee. He was on his way home, when he saw a vast crowd following Jesus. As a boy, of course, he was curious and he wanted to know what happened and who Jesus was. So we can imagine what happened, as a young boy, he came just on the first line of the crowd, not far from Jesus’ disciples. And Andrew saw him and what he had with him: five barley loaves and two fish. The boy was caught up with admiration to Jesus, and then he could not refuse when Jesus used his food to be shared for others. The miracle happened and the boy saw that. Can you imagine, what happened then when he returned home with plenty of bread and fish in a basket? How could he explain that to his mother, to his brother and sister that Jesus used his bread and fish to be multiplied to feed 5000 people? Joyful and proud was he and he would not forget it all his life.
I believe in miracles. It is still happening. What we need is faith, a faith like the young boy, a simple faith like the woman with hemorrhage who said to herself, if I can touch his cloak I will be healed; a faith without any doubt, a faith like the Phoenician woman who likens herself as a dog eating fragment of bread under the table, a faith like a crazy man. Sometimes it is difficult to see the difference between a mad man and a man who act according to his faith. You know, when I left my job, a very good job, to enter a seminary, my older brother thought that I was mad. What I did is a decision of faith. And at that time, my brother was not catholic. He could not understand about vocation to be a priest. He really thought that I lost my mind. So was Hanna when she prayed in the temple to ask a child, she prayed like a mad woman that the priest Eli thought that she had drunk too much wine. But I didn’t mean that we have to be crazy in order that to be man of faith. Anyhow it is important to let you know that we should have a simple faith.
But to have a faith doesn’t mean that we are just waiting for the miracle. Don’t be like my grandma who always prays that she can win a lottery but she never buy one. Faith needs action. St. Ignatius of Loyola said that God will help you if you try to help yourself. God needs our participation. God needs your bread and fish to be multiplied. You’ll be proud of that …
I believe in miracle, but a real miracle will happen if we come to our limit. We have to try first as best as we can to do our part. At the end of our effort we can trust God that he will continue it with His miracle.
I remember the story of many apparitions of St. Mary Mother of God. These apparitions are miracles from God. What for? Usually an apparition happened in a place where faith is going to die. People don’t go to church anymore. They don’t pray. They use the name of Jesus only to curse or to say bad thing. In this situation, people cannot help themselves anymore. It is only an intervention from heaven can save the people. In such a critical situation an apparition of St. Mary or of Jesus or a miracle happened. This happens if we can do nothing to help ourselves anymore. The situation is very bad. But as far as we can do something, we have to try to do our best.
Last week I talked about compassion and how we should be the Eucharist for others. If we apply this to ourselves, we have to remember that, as baptized Christians, we are called to feed the hungry. The hungry are not only in Africa or in some parts of Asia. There are also here … we can see them in some traffic lights in San Antonio. In my opinion, it is not good to give them money on the street here and there. We have to do something more efficient, such as operation rice-bowl or “Loaves and Fishes” programs.
I heard about that program, but I don’t know yet what exactly you do for the poor. In Indonesia, we have a motto: don’t give to them fish, but casting net or fishing rod. It means that we try to help the poor not by giving them food but by providing them work or training skill and a small capital that they can earn their own money to buy food. Giving food to them only makes them dependent on us, and this won’t change their lives.
In the second reading St. Paul reminds us to live in a manner worthy of the call we have received, as sons and daughters of God, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, especially with those who are in needs, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit. This is the reason: because we are one: the rich and the poor; as we are also called to the one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. May we grow in faith that we can see the continuous miracles happened in our daily life. God is still at work until now and for ever. Let us be His partners by sharing our bread and fish. He will multiply them and we will not be far from His grace and blessing.