2020-08-02 _ 18th Sunday ● Isaiah 55:1-3 ● Psalm 145 ● Romans 8:35, 37-39 ● + Matthew 14:13-21 ●
[_01_] This is the Gospel of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.
Given that that this is the multiplication – multiplying –
I’d like to touch on 4 aspects of being in church – or praying – that lead up
to this calling to us to be multiplied.
For it is not just the loaves and fishes that are
multiplied, because the multiplication is a precursor to the sacrifice of Jesus’
Body and Blood on Calvary. And, we – receiving his Body and Blood – are
multiplying his presence …multiplying his presence in our own homes, in our own
school, in our own family.
Our Savior has this goal for all of us to be multiplied I’d
like to touch on in this in 4 parts, as the 4 parts of going to Mass.
[_02_] Part. 1.
ADDITION.
“Addition” or 1 + 1 = 2, helps us to understand
multiplication.
And, what happens at the beginning of Mass or even before
we come to Mass – there is some addition – or adding – going on..
That is, when you come to church –to Sunday Mass – or even
when you pray at home as part of our parish family – you are consciously
choosing to add yourself to the assembly, to the community.
These days, this adding or “addition” is more complicated
because we are supposed to register for Sunday Mass.
There’s even a headcount limit. I.e., we cannot have more
than 100 people inside the church building.
I assure you, we will keep you safe and we are not yet near
the 100 person limit.
In any case, coming to Mass to prayer, is often a conscious
effort to pray and to add our prayer to an already busy schedule.
[_03_] That is, that’s
how we logically look at the task of praying. But, Jesus wants us to do the
ADDITION a different way. That is, rather than adding our prayer to our To-Do
list or daily schedule… rather… add our To-Do list or daily schedule to our
prayer.
Make Mass and prayer the center and priority of our day.
St. Paul summarizes this,saying “Pray constantly, pray unceasingly.”
Jesus touches on this in the encounter at home with Mary
and Martha, reminding us that Mary has made Jesus’ Word her priority and focus
and works everything in around that. For Martha, it seems to be the other way
around.
The better part – Mary’s part – is to put add the prayer as
the first agenda item.
Coming to Mass, nevertheless, you are added to our number.
You count and our lives are connected,
not only physically but spiritually.
And, even if you participate from home, you are added to our
number.
Jesus wants to add you here.
[_04_] Part 2.
SUBTRACTION.
Subtraction helps us to get to multiplication. What is
subtraction? 7 -2 = 5.
That’s subtracting.
Coming to pray or putting ourselves in God’s presence
involves some subtracting or minimizing.
This doesn’t mean God or the Church wants to diminish you
or seize anything from you, but we are all called to take step back to allow
God to work in our lives, to cooperate.
We are called to subtract in order to cooperate with
anybody.
For example, recently, I was moving a desk down the stairs
with my brother. We were moving it together. The desk was not super heavy. Part
of the trick of moving a large object is to allow the weight to be distributed
to be shared. I.e., do not try to lift it all by yourself. Subtract your own
effort a bit, allow the person to add some effort. That’s a healthy
subtraction.
John the Baptist also summarizes this, saying of Jesus, “He
must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)
Subtraction is Good News.
And, at Sunday Mass, I suggest that when we are attentive
to readings and Gospel, we are trying to allow God’s ideas and God’s love to
replace some of our own plans.
We need SUBTRACTION in order to see this.
[_05_] Part 3. DIVISION.
Division helps us to understand multiplication.
In the Gospel parable this Sunday, we see that the solution
and salvation was in the loaves and fishes.
But, before there was multiplication, there was a problem
of division.
I.e., the disciples were “divided” and disagreeing with
Jesus about how to feed the crowd.
What the disciples see – visually and naturally – are 5
loaves and 2 fishes, a quantity way too small to be divided and shared among so
many.
The disciples wished to dismiss the crowd, to disperse
them, to divide them.
Let them order on Instacart or GrubHub or stop at the
supermarket on the way home.
[_06_] We may have a
similar attitude when we think of relationships in our life in which there are
cracks or stress fractures or fault lines – i.e., “divisions.”
We may meditate on these precisely when we are in church or
in quiet. We may wonder how to heal them, if they can be healed, is there
anything we can do?
Sometimes, it’s long division!
In the Gospel, Jesus reminds us that if our prayer or receiving
of Communion reminds us of “division” with a brother or sister…in other words,
if we are at the altar and remember that our brother or sister has something
against, us, go first and be reconciled with this person, then return to the
altar.
We all have divisions that we may want to run from or
avoid.
And, for this…I suggest the solution is the multiplication…
[_07_] For, by this
miracle, Jesus is not simply saying he is going to multiply loaves and fishes,
but he’s also going to multiply the compassion you bring to others, the
forgiveness your bring, the hope and energy you bring…no matter how small or
insignificant you may think it is.
Jesus is going to multiply what we bring.
Jesus is going to multiply the host and body and blood,
multiplied so that it will nourish not only you but those whom you know and
see…nourish even those you do not yet know.
It starts by ADDING ourselves to God’s presence,
SUBTRACTING our own ego so that God may work…
recognizing DIVISIONS and SINFUL FAULTS that need healing and allowing
Jesus to multiply his presence in us and in our world.
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