8th Sunday after Pentecost 2020 Fr. Lawrence Margitich

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

of the Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ, glory

forever. Dear brothers and sisters, in Christ,

my dear friends, here we are once again. We hear

a gospel of our Lord's compassion. He's there

with 5 ,000 people, which to us right now, a

gathering of 5 ,000 Christians, doesn't seem

quite possible. But we are not dismayed. We are

not disturbed. Because whether it's the 12 apostles

only, or 5 ,000, God is with us. And he feeds

us, too. Let us not be dismayed, but have hope

and courage. It has to be said that Jesus was

not a politician. The people thought he might

be. They wanted to make him king after he fed

them, which is why the gospel ends with, and

immediately he told the apostles to get into

the boat and get out of there, and he sent the

multitude away. They wanted to make him a king.

The Lord didn't organize political rallies. He

didn't have to. In fact, after John the Baptist

was murdered by Herod, which you can read about

in the previous few verses that we just heard

from what we just heard, Jesus wanted to be alone.

He went away with his disciples into a boat and

along the shore multitudes are following to keep

track of the sail of the boat. Where is he going

to be? Where is he going to be? Why? Because

he had compassion on them and he loved them.

Have you noticed how Jesus' hands transformed

everything? Everything he touched. A blind man

who lived in the blackest night, when he was

touched by Jesus' hands, color and light came

into his eyes and his soul. A widow's son died,

and the poor woman was in terrible grief. And

he says to her, weep not. He touches the coffin,

and the man, the cold corpse, rises up. Today's

Gospel. Lord's compassion for the multitude,

5 ,000 families, following him for miles and

miles to be with him, and when they caught up

with him, they were with him all day, listening

to him, and it says he healed them. He healed

the sick, and he taught them. We are Christians.

We follow the way of Christ. We are to be like

Christ. This is our goal. God gives us so much

grace that you know we can be like God. God became

man so that we could be like him. God is compassionate.

Christianity without compassion is only a religion.

And a religion without compassion, as we've seen

over and over again, and are now seen in living

color, gives birth to great evils. It can sneak

up on you. Be compassionate. The blessed hands

of Jesus, which would be nailed to the cross,

which Thomas would want to see as proof, here

take a bit of bread and a couple of fish, a young

man's sack lunch, basically. And he touches them,

and they multiply. And he gives them to the apostles,

and 12 baskets are left over. You notice what

it says. He gives thanks, and he breaks the bread,

looking up to heaven. And all, it says, all were

satisfied. How rare that is. All were satisfied.

Something that happens extremely infrequently

in any community, in any family, in any situation.

Here, before Jesus, all were satisfied. Without

Jesus, we do not and have never will have adequate

resources to meet anyone else's needs to satisfy

ourself even. But we do. We do have. What we

do have is the blessed opportunity to quit complaining

about what we don't have and to thank God for

what we do have and to trust God who places his

hands on whatever meager offering and effort

and prayer and prostration and song. Lift up

your voices, my brothers and sisters, today.

Sing. We're outside. Sing. God will add to that

with the angels. And he will fill every need

we have. This goes for parish life. This goes

for our fellowship. Our God is the God of abundance.

Jesus says, I have come that they may have life

and have life more abundantly. Eternal life.

But like the people in the gospel, after we're

fed and satisfied, we want something else from

Jesus. That's not quite enough. And he wants

to give us something else. But it's often not

what we want, it's what we need. The apostle

Paul assures us in Philippians that God shall

supply all your need. He doesn't say wants and

whims, but all our need according to his riches

and glory by Christ Jesus. So begin with prayer.

Put your heart in the prayer and see how God

will lift that up and multiply that effort and

grant grace and pour it upon you. Give us this

day our daily bread. Isn't that enough? The word

daily there in Greek is iperousion, which means

enough to get us through tomorrow. But it also

means something else. St. Cyprian of Carthage

says it's the bread of the holy altar. That the

feeding of the 5 ,000 families was a foreshadowing

of the holy Eucharist. Today, We're going to

be fed by God himself. When you see my hand and

the spoon, believe it is the hand of Christ.

That's why this cup is here, so that my hand

is no longer contiguous with my arm. It becomes

Christ's hand, we believe. And let us be satisfied.

Saint. St. Simeon, the new theologian, writes

in his prayer before communion something like,

Having been given the deified body and blood,

O Christ, we are no longer alone, but are with

thee, who does illumine the whole world. St.

Theophon says this, When going to the holy mysteries,

go with simplicity of heart, in full faith that

you will receive the Lord within yourself. and

with proper reverence towards this. What is your

state of mind after this? Leave it to the Lord.

Many desire ahead of time to receive that or

this from Holy Communion, and then, not seeing

what they wanted, they're troubled. And even

their faith is in the power of the mystery which

is shaken. The fault lies not with the Holy Mystery

of Communion, but with superficial assumptions.

Do not promise yourself anything. Leave everything

to the Lord, asking a single mercy from him to

strengthen you in every kind of good so that

you will be acceptable to him and filled with

his compassion. The fruit of communion most often

is a taste of sweet peace, of God's compassion

in the heart. Sometimes it brings enlightenment

to our thought. Sometimes inspiration to our

devotion to the Lord. Sometimes almost nothing

is apparent. But afterward, in one's affairs

and relationships, there is strength and steadfastness

in Christ. Because he has given us himself. To

our Lord be glory, now and ever, to ages of ages.

Amen.