18TH SUNDAY A DIVINE PROVIDENCE AND HUMAN PROVIDENCE My dear friends in Christ, there is no doubt that we all trust in Divine providence. Unfortunately many of those who trust in God for their needs fail to do something about the needs of those around them. The Lord invites us today to trust in his providence and just as Jesus told the disciples to give the crowd something to eat themselves, instead of sending them away and made them share the bread he blessed, may we too become the hands of Jesus in reaching out to the needy around us. FIRST READING (ISAIAH 55:1-3) This very short passage comes from the very last chapter of the Second part of the Book of Isaiah believed to have been written by a prophet who lived during the period of exile in Babylon, in the 6th Century BCE. The entire second part of Isaiah is called, ‘The Book of Consolation.’ (Chapters 40-55) The dominant theme of these chapters is, God’s promise of consolation and His comforting actions towards his people. Chapter 40 sets the tone as it begins with “console my people, console them.’ The basis of the consolation is in the fact that God’s Word endures forever. Though in exile and in need, God assures the people of Divine providence. In a time of need brought about by famine or war, to find a supermarket with a sales person at the door inviting people to come in and get their groceries whether they have money or not will definitely create a chaos. Even on days of sales, when prices drop in the market, we know how people rush and push themselves aside, to get their goods at the discounted rate. Can this offer be for material water and food? “Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Can you believe that? The store will be emptied in a jiffy. While that expresses the providence of God which is not based on merit the next line and question is about human providence: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy?” I will look at this question later on. God insists that listening to him is of great importance for ‘Man does not live by bread alone.’ Inclining the ear to God is what keeps the soul alive and that is the foundation of the everlasting covenant. SECOND READING (ROMANS 8:35.37-39) Paul in this passage asks a question we all need to reflect on individually. Is there anything that can separate us from the love of Christ? Could there be any reason for which I will abandon my faith in Christ? Paul puts forward a list of difficult situations in ‘tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril or the sword.’ Will I abandon my faith for any of these? Since the two other readings today deal with the issue of Divine Providence, could poverty or a lack of the basic things of life make us abandon the faith? For St Paul, “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” GOSPEL (MATTHEW 14: 13-21) The need to be alone with his disciples perhaps to reflect on the future of his mission after the death of John the Baptist was aborted by the need to continue to proclaim the good news to the people who even got to the place they were retreating to. What follows was a full day of work healing the sick. Everything reached the peak by evening when ordinarily the disciples came to Jesus asking him to dismiss the crowd so they might go and find food from the surrounding villages. To the amazement of the disciples, Jesus told them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” The disciples had only five loaves and two fish and that was all it took to feed five thousand men, besides women and children? Definitely it wasnt the five loaves but the multiplication miracle effected by the action of Jesus and the result was that after the crowd had eaten to their satisfaction, they had plenty of excess. With God, Divine providence creates an abundance from nothing. More than just the bread that was shared on this occasion, the miracle already points to the Eucharistic meal with which Jesus will feed all those who believe in him and ultimately, it points to the eternal banquet which will be free and provided by the Lord to those who have heeded his call. With Divine providence on the horizon, we may return to the question posed by Isaiah in the first reading: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which does not satisfy?” Obviously the human person is always in need of one thing or the other. In fact, one might say that the human person is shaped by his/her needs. That is perhaps why it is said that, ‘Necessity is the mother of invention.’ When a need arises, man struggles to meet up, unfortunately in the absence of a need, man struggles for ‘wants.’ Often he becomes consumed by his wants and not his needs. There are obviously genuine needs: the body needs food, drink and clothing. A person needs shelter, love, support and affirmation. There is need for stimulation, information and general sense of purpose and security in life. What can bring us happiness? Through the ages we have come to see that happiness is not in material things but rather in God. Like St Augustine in his famous quote, “Our souls are made for you O God and will find no rest until they rest in you.” This is however often overlooked in the quest for happiness. I tried reflecting on the difference between ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ and obviously I began to laugh on the human quest for greatness. For example, I realised that, between ‘Agege’ bread and an imported loaf, the different is ‘want’ and not ‘need,’ between a simply functional car and an exotic car, the difference is ‘want,’ between a coffin made of simple planks and the one made of bronze, the difference is want, between a room in the hotel and a suite in the same hotel, the difference is want. Between the economy seat in a plane and the first class seat, the difference is want. The list is endless. If one is working hard to satisfy these wants which are sometimes regarded as comfort or pleasure, one might be spending his wage or labour on something that does not satisfy. Think of all those things on the so called ‘vanity table’ in the dressing rooms. What of those clothes in the wardrobes that are not used, the cars covered up in garages when their owners are still in the field working hard? The quest to satisfy wants instead of needs has led many to become selfish and greedy in their pursuit of the things of the world. A Christian must be careful of this lest he gain the world and suffer the loss of his soul. Spend your money and your labour on what satisfies. May the Lord provide your needs and bless you abundantly. Have a wonderful week.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 20:49:30 +0000
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