HOMILY OF 18TH MONDAY ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A
HOMILY OF 18TH MONDAY ORDINARY TIME — YEAR A
HOMILY THEME: “BRING THEM HERE TO ME”
BY: Fr. Mike Lagrimas
When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” [Jesus] said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over—twelve wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
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Today’s Gospel account is St. Matthew’s version of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. When Jesus heard about His cousin’s tragic death at the hands of King Herod, He was terribly shaken. So, He withdrew by boat to a desert place by Himself. He wanted to be alone to have some time to grieve and reflect.
But He could not have this moment of solitude because the crowd followed Him along the shore on foot and arrived at the place ahead of Him. Once again, Jesus set aside His personal needs in favor of the people and “his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.” Ever sensitive to their needs, He provided food for them through this great miracle.
Looking a little bit closer at this narrative, we can see that it contains five commands of the Lord. And it is the prompt obedience of the disciples to each of these commands that helped make possible this miracle.
The first command is: “Give them some food yourselves.” This puts the disciples in proper disposition. First and foremost, it is a reminder of their giftedness. They should not go to Jesus all the time for everything they need. They, in fact, can give something out of their resources: “The gift you have received, give as a gift.” This, then, is a call to generosity. For the miracle to happen, there should be no room for selfishness and greed.
The second command is: “Bring them here to me.” The disciples could only produce five loaves and two fish, but what good are these for such a vast crowd? But God’s power and providence cannot be underestimated. In the hands of men, it is true that five loaves and two fish are nothing. But in the hands of Jesus, these were able to feed the vast crowd, and with leftovers filling up twelve wicker baskets. The lesson is clear. Whatever resources we have, we just have to learn to entrust them all to the powerful and generous hands of the Lord. He can multiply them in order to satisfy our needs.
The third command: “He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.” After all, God is a God of order. For such a big number – five thousand men, not counting women and children – an effective crowd control is needed They have to be seated and properly organized. Chaos and disorder can always disrupt the flow of God’s graces. Such a case usually happens when selfishness and greed come into play. When undisciplined recipients, motivated by greed, push and shove each other to get more, the graces can cause destruction and death instead of blessing.
The fourth command: After giving the bread to His disciples, Jesus ordered them to give these to the people. This role is not entrusted to anyone else, but specifically to the disciples only. In short, they were the conduits and the dispensers of the graces coming from Jesus. This can be considered as their initiation to the ministerial role they are going to play in the Church later on.
The fifth command: After everyone has eaten and was satisfied, Jesus instructed the disciples to gather up the fragments left over. This reveals two important points. First, God’s generosity is infinitely abundant. After all, as the Lord said, “I have come that you might have life in abundance.” God can never be outdone in generosity. He will never run out of blessings and graces for His people. And second, these graces, abundant as they are, must be handled properly to avoid waste. Wasting God’s blessings in the face of the hunger and poverty of so many people is such a grave offense to the Lord.
The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves is a prelude to the greatest miracle of all – the Eucharist. The Incarnate God becomes Himself Bread as food to sustain and nourish us unto eternal life. Thus, we cannot ask for any more miracles other than the conversion of our hearts. We pray that our hearts may be more docile and obedient so that we will always promptly follow the commands that our Lord gave in the Gospel today. This will surely usher in more abundant blessings and graces from the loving and generous heart of God.
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