In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory
to God. I wonder if you have ever found yourself
in a difficult or perhaps impossible situation.
Your challenge have seemed clear, but your resources
are limited. has set in front of his disciples
in today's gospel is that of a situation of 5
,000 people and no food. I don't know if you're
a manager or you work with managing things. Your
mind easily comes to how can we solve a situation
like this? And the disciples, probably being
of a similar kind, suggests to Jesus, this is
a deserted place and the hour is already late.
Send the multitudes away that they may go into
the villages and buy themselves food. Given the
situation, this seems like a sensible solution
to a difficult challenge. feeding 5 ,000 people.
But Jesus has something else in mind. They do
not need to go away. You give them something
to eat. And the question immediately arises,
I know at least in my case, how? We don't have
food. It's 5 ,000 people. And, you know, if you're
a subordinate, you might ask, does my master
know what he's talking about? Does he understand
the challenge in front of him? The practical
implication of his command? Is this just lofty
spiritual talk? The suggestion of the disciples
is reasonable, given the situation. But you and
I, we might have argued with our manager, and
we probably have argued with our Lord like this.
Have you felt tempted to give God a little bit
of direction, or tell him that you know what
he should do. This is how we should solve this
problem. This is my challenge. This is how I
think it should be solved. Or in fact, this is
how I expect this challenge to be solved. If
God really knew my situation, he would know exactly
what is best for me, what I need or what we need.
If God knew me like I know myself, he would know
what I need. And you know, when we talk like
this, when we say our words out aloud, They seem
silly in some ways. Of course. Who am I to direct
God? Do I know myself better than God? I'm sure
most of us have thought like this when presented
with a challenge in our life. We already think
we know what we need and how God should give
this to us. or solve our problem. But in doing
so, we assume a whole lot of things. We assume
that our Lord does not really know, that he is
perhaps a little bit out of touch, that he needs
a little bit of direction. But what we really
do is to limit our God, to our own expectations,
to our own imagination. And if we do that, it
will be impossible for us to discover if God
has something different in mind for us that we
cannot anticipate. Or if he has a different way
of doing things. than I would like or perhaps
you would like. If we only look in a certain
direction, and this is very simple, we will not
discover him, our Lord, if he comes from another
direction. In short, it will be impossible for
us to see God and see if he is doing something
new. What we really are doing is to limit God
to our own expectations and imagination. We confine
God to our own mind. We make God small and ourself
great. We become the center and God becomes someone
who can help us with what we need and what we
think is best. But how? How can God do something
great if we confine him to our own expectations?
How can God be greater than we if we limit him
to a person of our own mind? Can God do something
greater and different than what we have anticipated?
Of course. So we need to stop confining God to
our own mind, to a prison of our own imagination.
If we stick to our ways, we will be stuck. It
will be impossible to receive the command of
God, and to receive the miracle God has in store
for us and for his people. When we read the gospel,
the commandments are very radical. We often forget
how radical they really are, how challenging
God is. His commands are, sell everything in
order to obtain the kingdom of God, leave everything
and follow me, die in order to live. But oftentimes
we find, if we are honest, that it is hard to
let go. It's difficult to die and that we hold
on to things. also tells us that their Lord will
receive what we have. And in this case, two fishes
and five loaves. Which doesn't seem a whole lot.
It's not enough. But give what you have. You
might think it's small, it's significant. That
God cannot do anything with it. But it's not
up for you to decide. What you have, what you
can give, can be transformed into something great.
And it is transformed, and this is important
to note. The fish and the bread are transformed.
to the glory of God, but to the benefit of all
the people. We can even see it on the icon above
the arch, just on this side. God gives us a command.
His commandments are for the benefit of us and
for the people that he loves, his body, his church.
He's not giving us things so that we can keep
them for ourselves. That little boy, according
to the Gospel of John, could have kept that fish
and those loaves. He could have thought, you
know, this is not very significant. It won't
help. But perhaps because he's a child and he
has a simple faith, he offers to God what he
has. He's not limited by his own mind. And the
disciples are forced to present this to the Lord,
as we do as well when we are forced to present
the only thing that we have. But it is for the
benefit of the people, to the uplifting of the
body. He will use what you give to feed his community,
those scattered around you, those next to you,
whether it be 5 ,000, 100, 25, or 2. These people
around you are your brothers and sisters whom
God has given you, whom he has united you with
through himself in his own body and blood. So
your challenge is to open your hearts, your imagination,
by giving something to the Lord that you can
give to his people. If you will obey or if you
will not obey what God is commanding you, he
will ask someone else. He will transform and
heal someone else. How? Will you respond? So
the questions. What are the things that you are
keeping back from God and those next to you because
you think they are insignificant? Because you
cannot see what purpose they might have? In what
ways have you limited God? What challenge in
front of you? Are you managing on your own? What
can you offer him today? Give him what you have
today, not what you think he might need or what
you might have tomorrow, whether it be your resources,
your skills, your time. Even your failures, doubts,
and lack of faith can be transformed into something
great, into life, into abundance, into strength.
Offer it and watch the Lord transform it into
an abundance so incredible and so rich that it
will overflow. And don't let anyone tell you
it is impossible. It is impossible for you, but
not for Jesus. Glory to Jesus Christ.