18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 5, 2012
Shared Homily Starter
First Reading: Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15, 31
Second Reading: Ephesians 4:17-24
Gospel: John 6:24-35
To start the
shared homily, I will just share a few thoughts on each of the readings and
give a brief discussion of what questions the readings raised for me.
When
I looked at today's readings, the idea of gift kept echoing in my mind. The first reading from the Exodus tells us
that the Israelites quickly forgot God's gift of freedom from Egyptian
oppression as they began their journey in the desert. It tells how our loving God sent heavenly
bread and meat to feed them when they complained they had no food. I think it is important to situate this
reading in the context of the whole chapter in which it appears. You see, the only requests God made was that
they should gather enough to eat and that they not try to save any of the bread
or meat for the next day. However, some
of them did not heed the Creator's instructions and gathered more than the
needed and tried to hoard what they did not eat. When they did, scripture tells us that their
hoardings "bred worms and became foul." They did not trust in God’s love or
beneficence. This happened a few times
until the Israelites finally got it.
The
second reading tells us that Jesus taught us how to live as beings Created
according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. In Spanish translations of the scriptures the
word righteousness is translated as justice.
The word holiness comes from an Old English word meaning
"wholeness", which denotes the presence of sacredness in an object,
being, person, place or idea. So, we
could say that we are created in God's image and gifted with a sense of justice
and the spark of the Divine. Therefore,
knowing this, we are not to act like those who are unaware of who they are and
Whose they are.
In
the today's Gospel, we are again faced with people who do not realize the gifts
they have been given. They have just
witnessed the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. They see Jesus on the other side of the lake
and they know he didn't get there by boat.
Jesus knows they are looking for him not because they recognized the
gift of witnessing miraculous events but because they were looking for more
food. Parker Palmer suggests that the
miracle was not literally a multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Rather, that Jesus got those present, who had
food with them, to share their food with the others. When they did this, there was enough for everyone. This would be no less a miracle.
Jesus
recognizes that they have not learned or appreciated what they have just
experienced. He tries to tell them to
put their efforts into what is life-giving.
By the exchange between Jesus and the people, we know that they are
familiar with the scriptures. So they
know the word of God but seem to be unaware that the Torah and the Prophets,
like the gospel, actually call upon us to act.
The Creator has told us what is good; and what is required of us: to do
justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God.
The
people who had this verbal exchange with Jesus are like many of us. We may know this or that passage or parable,
but don't really want to do what is it calling us to do. For example, I said that these readings spoke
to me of gift, that is, of the gifts that God gives to us. I ask myself, how often have I refused to
share these gifts? I'm not speaking of
financial gifts; these are easy, relatively speaking. Rather, I'm speaking of the gifts of our time,
talents, knowledge, of small kindnesses and considerateness. Also, I ask, how often have I not given my
all? How often am I short with those
close to me and generous to those I'm trying to impress or influence? Do I not share myself because I'm afraid I
won’t look as good, as talented, or as knowledgeable as another?
God
doesn't ask us to be perfect but as the second reading says, we should be
restrained in our wants, take no more than we need, and practice our faith in a
way that is not watered down. I say this
because the second reading mentions licentiousness, greed and impurity. I want to think beyond the headlines and the
Catholic preoccupation with the sexual.
Licentious also means unrestrained; and, impure also means adulterated
or watered down. If we look at this
reading through this changed lens of meaning, it has individual as well as
social, economic and climate justice implications. Showing our thankfulness and appreciation of
God's gifts to us includes sharing our gifts.
This has implications for us as individuals, and, as participants in our
political, social and economic structures.
Please share your own thoughts on any
of the readings.
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