WEBVTT 00:00:00.330 --> 00:00:02.529 In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the 00:00:02.529 --> 00:00:06.570 Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory 00:00:06.570 --> 00:00:12.630 to God. I wonder if you have ever found yourself 00:00:12.630 --> 00:00:16.469 in a difficult or perhaps impossible situation. 00:00:18.390 --> 00:00:23.210 Your challenge have seemed clear, but your resources 00:00:23.210 --> 00:00:31.899 are limited. has set in front of his disciples 00:00:31.899 --> 00:00:36.200 in today's gospel is that of a situation of 5 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:44.439 ,000 people and no food. I don't know if you're 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:49.740 a manager or you work with managing things. Your 00:00:49.740 --> 00:00:53.000 mind easily comes to how can we solve a situation 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:59.939 like this? And the disciples, probably being 00:00:59.939 --> 00:01:05.579 of a similar kind, suggests to Jesus, this is 00:01:05.579 --> 00:01:09.760 a deserted place and the hour is already late. 00:01:10.540 --> 00:01:14.840 Send the multitudes away that they may go into 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:19.920 the villages and buy themselves food. Given the 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:24.319 situation, this seems like a sensible solution 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:28.939 to a difficult challenge. feeding 5 ,000 people. 00:01:31.060 --> 00:01:38.599 But Jesus has something else in mind. They do 00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:44.959 not need to go away. You give them something 00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:50.239 to eat. And the question immediately arises, 00:01:50.379 --> 00:01:56.299 I know at least in my case, how? We don't have 00:01:56.299 --> 00:02:03.019 food. It's 5 ,000 people. And, you know, if you're 00:02:03.019 --> 00:02:07.340 a subordinate, you might ask, does my master 00:02:07.340 --> 00:02:10.520 know what he's talking about? Does he understand 00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:13.759 the challenge in front of him? The practical 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:18.460 implication of his command? Is this just lofty 00:02:18.460 --> 00:02:26.960 spiritual talk? The suggestion of the disciples 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:36.120 is reasonable, given the situation. But you and 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:41.780 I, we might have argued with our manager, and 00:02:41.780 --> 00:02:45.280 we probably have argued with our Lord like this. 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:52.669 Have you felt tempted to give God a little bit 00:02:52.669 --> 00:02:58.770 of direction, or tell him that you know what 00:02:58.770 --> 00:03:04.050 he should do. This is how we should solve this 00:03:04.050 --> 00:03:10.449 problem. This is my challenge. This is how I 00:03:10.449 --> 00:03:13.229 think it should be solved. Or in fact, this is 00:03:13.229 --> 00:03:20.460 how I expect this challenge to be solved. If 00:03:20.460 --> 00:03:25.280 God really knew my situation, he would know exactly 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:30.360 what is best for me, what I need or what we need. 00:03:31.099 --> 00:03:37.500 If God knew me like I know myself, he would know 00:03:37.500 --> 00:03:43.460 what I need. And you know, when we talk like 00:03:43.460 --> 00:03:49.150 this, when we say our words out aloud, They seem 00:03:49.150 --> 00:03:55.210 silly in some ways. Of course. Who am I to direct 00:03:55.210 --> 00:04:03.569 God? Do I know myself better than God? I'm sure 00:04:03.569 --> 00:04:08.030 most of us have thought like this when presented 00:04:08.030 --> 00:04:12.110 with a challenge in our life. We already think 00:04:12.110 --> 00:04:16.870 we know what we need and how God should give 00:04:16.870 --> 00:04:22.339 this to us. or solve our problem. But in doing 00:04:22.339 --> 00:04:28.160 so, we assume a whole lot of things. We assume 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:33.480 that our Lord does not really know, that he is 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:38.680 perhaps a little bit out of touch, that he needs 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:44.199 a little bit of direction. But what we really 00:04:44.199 --> 00:04:49.740 do is to limit our God, to our own expectations, 00:04:50.019 --> 00:04:57.300 to our own imagination. And if we do that, it 00:04:57.300 --> 00:05:02.040 will be impossible for us to discover if God 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:06.439 has something different in mind for us that we 00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:13.300 cannot anticipate. Or if he has a different way 00:05:13.300 --> 00:05:17.870 of doing things. than I would like or perhaps 00:05:17.870 --> 00:05:22.790 you would like. If we only look in a certain 00:05:22.790 --> 00:05:27.250 direction, and this is very simple, we will not 00:05:27.250 --> 00:05:31.689 discover him, our Lord, if he comes from another 00:05:31.689 --> 00:05:39.269 direction. In short, it will be impossible for 00:05:39.269 --> 00:05:43.949 us to see God and see if he is doing something 00:05:43.949 --> 00:05:52.029 new. What we really are doing is to limit God 00:05:52.029 --> 00:05:56.910 to our own expectations and imagination. We confine 00:05:56.910 --> 00:06:02.990 God to our own mind. We make God small and ourself 00:06:02.990 --> 00:06:08.569 great. We become the center and God becomes someone 00:06:08.569 --> 00:06:13.569 who can help us with what we need and what we 00:06:13.569 --> 00:06:19.300 think is best. But how? How can God do something 00:06:19.300 --> 00:06:23.079 great if we confine him to our own expectations? 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:29.720 How can God be greater than we if we limit him 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:37.240 to a person of our own mind? Can God do something 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:41.199 greater and different than what we have anticipated? 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:52.540 Of course. So we need to stop confining God to 00:06:52.540 --> 00:06:57.339 our own mind, to a prison of our own imagination. 00:07:04.180 --> 00:07:11.180 If we stick to our ways, we will be stuck. It 00:07:11.180 --> 00:07:15.279 will be impossible to receive the command of 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:20.829 God, and to receive the miracle God has in store 00:07:20.829 --> 00:07:29.430 for us and for his people. When we read the gospel, 00:07:29.589 --> 00:07:37.649 the commandments are very radical. We often forget 00:07:37.649 --> 00:07:41.189 how radical they really are, how challenging 00:07:41.189 --> 00:07:49.540 God is. His commands are, sell everything in 00:07:49.540 --> 00:07:53.180 order to obtain the kingdom of God, leave everything 00:07:53.180 --> 00:07:59.379 and follow me, die in order to live. But oftentimes 00:07:59.379 --> 00:08:04.000 we find, if we are honest, that it is hard to 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:10.160 let go. It's difficult to die and that we hold 00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:17.980 on to things. also tells us that their Lord will 00:08:17.980 --> 00:08:23.180 receive what we have. And in this case, two fishes 00:08:23.180 --> 00:08:27.939 and five loaves. Which doesn't seem a whole lot. 00:08:28.660 --> 00:08:40.159 It's not enough. But give what you have. You 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:45.820 might think it's small, it's significant. That 00:08:45.820 --> 00:08:50.379 God cannot do anything with it. But it's not 00:08:50.379 --> 00:08:55.259 up for you to decide. What you have, what you 00:08:55.259 --> 00:09:02.080 can give, can be transformed into something great. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:05.759 And it is transformed, and this is important 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:12.279 to note. The fish and the bread are transformed. 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:17.279 to the glory of God, but to the benefit of all 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:22.399 the people. We can even see it on the icon above 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:33.120 the arch, just on this side. God gives us a command. 00:09:34.360 --> 00:09:38.320 His commandments are for the benefit of us and 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:42.200 for the people that he loves, his body, his church. 00:09:42.809 --> 00:09:45.450 He's not giving us things so that we can keep 00:09:45.450 --> 00:09:50.409 them for ourselves. That little boy, according 00:09:50.409 --> 00:09:53.289 to the Gospel of John, could have kept that fish 00:09:53.289 --> 00:09:56.230 and those loaves. He could have thought, you 00:09:56.230 --> 00:09:59.090 know, this is not very significant. It won't 00:09:59.090 --> 00:10:04.289 help. But perhaps because he's a child and he 00:10:04.289 --> 00:10:10.490 has a simple faith, he offers to God what he 00:10:10.490 --> 00:10:15.399 has. He's not limited by his own mind. And the 00:10:15.399 --> 00:10:19.539 disciples are forced to present this to the Lord, 00:10:19.620 --> 00:10:23.559 as we do as well when we are forced to present 00:10:23.559 --> 00:10:30.179 the only thing that we have. But it is for the 00:10:30.179 --> 00:10:34.840 benefit of the people, to the uplifting of the 00:10:34.840 --> 00:10:47.360 body. He will use what you give to feed his community, 00:10:47.620 --> 00:10:51.539 those scattered around you, those next to you, 00:10:51.639 --> 00:11:01.659 whether it be 5 ,000, 100, 25, or 2. These people 00:11:01.659 --> 00:11:04.779 around you are your brothers and sisters whom 00:11:04.779 --> 00:11:09.200 God has given you, whom he has united you with 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:15.549 through himself in his own body and blood. So 00:11:15.549 --> 00:11:19.350 your challenge is to open your hearts, your imagination, 00:11:19.389 --> 00:11:24.129 by giving something to the Lord that you can 00:11:24.129 --> 00:11:29.710 give to his people. If you will obey or if you 00:11:29.710 --> 00:11:34.090 will not obey what God is commanding you, he 00:11:34.090 --> 00:11:39.169 will ask someone else. He will transform and 00:11:39.169 --> 00:11:48.100 heal someone else. How? Will you respond? So 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:51.779 the questions. What are the things that you are 00:11:51.779 --> 00:11:56.279 keeping back from God and those next to you because 00:11:56.279 --> 00:12:00.340 you think they are insignificant? Because you 00:12:00.340 --> 00:12:05.960 cannot see what purpose they might have? In what 00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:10.600 ways have you limited God? What challenge in 00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:20.029 front of you? Are you managing on your own? What 00:12:20.029 --> 00:12:27.330 can you offer him today? Give him what you have 00:12:27.330 --> 00:12:32.529 today, not what you think he might need or what 00:12:32.529 --> 00:12:36.850 you might have tomorrow, whether it be your resources, 00:12:36.909 --> 00:12:43.389 your skills, your time. Even your failures, doubts, 00:12:43.669 --> 00:12:48.370 and lack of faith can be transformed into something 00:12:48.370 --> 00:12:53.970 great, into life, into abundance, into strength. 00:12:54.970 --> 00:12:59.990 Offer it and watch the Lord transform it into 00:12:59.990 --> 00:13:04.230 an abundance so incredible and so rich that it 00:13:04.230 --> 00:13:08.070 will overflow. And don't let anyone tell you 00:13:08.070 --> 00:13:14.470 it is impossible. It is impossible for you, but 00:13:14.470 --> 00:13:18.029 not for Jesus. Glory to Jesus Christ.