5 August 2024 -- Monday of the 18th Ordinary Week, even-numbered year
Jer 28, 1-17; Mt 14, 13-21
HOMILY
This multiplication of loaves, recorded in the Gospel we have just read, is the only miracle of Jesus that is reported by each of the four evangelists. This clearly shows the importance attributed to it by the first Christians. Each Gospel wants to show Jesus in its own way as the new Moses, capable of feeding his people in solitude and leading them through the desert. Matthew, in the version of the story we have just heard, explicitly describes Jesus coming to the desert, surrounded by a crowd without food.
There are two aspects of this story that particularly deserve our attention. Not only is Jesus moved by compassion for the poor and hungry crowds, but he gives them real, concrete, material food. As he never ceased to repeat, his kingdom is not of this world, but is lived in this world. He is the Bread of Life; but normal human life, lived here below, is part of the eternal life that he came to bring to humanity. Human beings need spiritual nourishment; but they also need, and even primarily need - a temporal priority - material nourishment. This is an integral part of his message.
The second aspect is that of sharing. Jesus asked the Apostles what food they had. They reply, ‘five loaves and two fish.’ He tells them to share. And there was enough for everyone. It is legitimate to think that the real miracle that happened that day was that all those who had brought something shared it wholeheartedly with their neighbours, and there was much more food than was necessary.
Translated into modern language and in today's context, we can say that the problems of poverty and hunger in the world are, in the final analysis, problems of justice and fair distribution. Mother Earth could feed several billion more people if those who have decided to share with those who have not.
Faced with the distressing problems of hunger in the world (with 60% of the world's population undernourished, hundreds of millions suffering chronic hunger, and tens of thousands dying of hunger every day), we easily feel powerless. Jesus has a very simple solution to these problems, which does not require international commissions to study the situation. He simply says: ‘How much do you have? -- share it, and there will be enough for all’. And so it happened.
A great Doctor of the Church, John Chrysostom, expressed the link between liturgical celebration and care for the poor most vividly: ‘You want to honour the Body of Christ. Do not despise him when he is naked. Do not honour him here in the Church with silk garments, while you leave him outside in the cold and naked... God does not need golden chalices; he wants golden souls. Feed the poor first, and you will decorate the altar with what is left over.’
These strong words would be considered subversive today, were they not spoken by a Father of the Church.
As we gather here to receive the Bread of Life, let us ask the Lord to open the hearts of all Christians to the dimensions of their responsibility, so that all peoples, and every man and woman in all peoples, may be welcomed to the Feast of the Nations.
Armand Veilleux