Authentic Ministry – Ministering to Others
By Fr. Greg Hartmayer, OFM Conv.
(Homily Given on Sunday, July 30, 2006)
My Dear Friends,
Throughout the month of July, we have been listening to and reading Mark’s Gospel. The Scriptures over these last three weeks in particular, have some rather important reflections upon “Ministering to Others.” Three weeks ago, we heard in the Gospel of the time when Jesus gathered his twelve Apostles together and sent them out on their first mission, and they were given instructions as they were sent out, two by two. There were six groups of two and they were sent out on different paths…to different locations…and they were to take nothing with them for their journey. They were not to take any food; they were not to take any money; they were not to take any extra clothes. All that they could take was a walking stick.
Sending them out without any money…without provisions…caused them to have complete faith in God. When you have nothing, you have to have complete faith in God, because there’s nothing else to rely on. Just the act of sending them out in that way was a tremendous lesson for the Apostles to learn about being a disciple of Christ. You don’t bring a lot of baggage with you that weighs you down, or that comforts you to such an extent that you have no need for God. It’s when you have nothing, or very little, that you have a greater relationship with God because there are fewer distractions to take us away from that relationship that God wants to have with us…and He will not let us down. And so, that was a lesson that the Apostles were learning very early in their discipleship…”Don’t worry about this or that. The Lord will take care of it.”
Also, by sending them out two by two (remember that they probably didn’t know each other), they became dependent on each other. They came to know each other in a closer way. They became friends…they became brothers. And so, it was an opportunity for these Apostles to begin to form relationships and to understand what it means to belong…to belong to a community. It was a great experience for those Apostles to be sent out in that way, perhaps not even understanding the objectives that Jesus did.
The Apostles really had nothing to worry about as they went out into the unknown, carrying nothing, because my experience with people is, that people will help…people will give…people will share. If they see that there’s a need, they will help fulfill that need. And so, I think that the Apostles also learned something about the generosity of the people whom they were sent to serve.
Last week, we spoke about the qualities of a good shepherd, and we said that one of the qualities that a shepherd had to have was availability…24/7…that a shepherd had to be completely committed to the sheep because, as we said, they weren’t the brightest of God’s creation. It was the shepherd who had to find them food…it was the shepherd who protected them from danger…it was the shepherd who helped them in giving birth to their young…it was the shepherd who helped heal their wounds. The sheep were totally dependent on the shepherd…and a good shepherd had to be in tune with his sheep. He had to be willing to commit himself to the sheep.
And today, the author of the second Book of Kings which we heard as our first reading this morning (2Kgs 4:42-44), and the author of the Gospel of John (Jn 6:1-15) direct us to a ministry that is truly a calling of all baptized Christians. Today, we learn about Authentic Ministry and that it demands from us to go the extra mile. You know, I don’t mind going the mile, but the extra mile…? Shouldn’t you just be satisfied with whatever I can give you, and if it’s a mile, say “thanks”. But I need to grow…I need to do another half mile, because it will be good for me. And so, in order that Authentic Ministry doesn’t become routine…“Ho-hum”…indifferent or taken for granted…we must stretch ourselves every so often and do a little bit more, because we need it. Certainly, the beneficiaries are those to whom we minister, but also, the minister benefits from having the opportunity to serve in a more authentic and giving way!
Today’s liturgy prompts us to also tend to the physical hungers of those whom God has entrusted to our care. You know, most of the time, in the last 27 years that I’ve been preaching on this Gospel or other accounts of this Gospel of the multiplication of the loaves, it seems like my intent was always to use the bread as “symbol”, rather than as bread! We’re always trying to find a deeper meaning into the Scriptures and sometimes, the surface meaning is as important! And so, we’re talking today about feeding the actual hunger, the physical hunger of the people who are entrusted to our care.
In the first reading, by God’s power and grace, Elisha stretched twenty barley loaves into a meal that fed a hundred men, not counting women or children. Barley loaves…twenty barley loaves…. And in the Gospel, a young boy had five barley loaves and Jesus blessed, and broke, and distributed enough to feed five thousand men, not counting women and children. Why don’t they count women and children? Because they never did! You see, in society at that time, the women and children had no voice; they had no social status. Oh, they were there and they were cared for, but it was the men that had all of the responsibilities of society. The women and the children pretty much stayed at home, but when Jesus was in town, they came and followed and wanted to listen to him as well.
Why barley loaves? Why couldn’t it have been…“Jewish rye”? Why did John bother telling us that it was barley? The author of the second Book of Kings did the same thing…he said they were barley loaves! Why barley? …Because barley bread, or barley flour, was the food of the poor. That’s just like John to give us those kind of details. Most of us just gloss over them because they don’t seem to be that significant. But John tells us a lot more than what the words say in his Gospel. He tells us the time of year, the time of day, the feast that’s being celebrated…he gives us all these details. That’s so characteristic of John…to give us a little bit more than perhaps we would have gotten at “first read”.
But there was more to the story in John’s Gospel and in the second Book of Kings than just feeding the poor, or feeding the hungry. If that was the point…if Jesus was just going to feed the poor, he could have just as miraculously produced some Food Stamps and had his Apostles hand them out and tell the people, “Get yourselves something to eat on the way home!” But Jesus, as we heard in John’s Gospel, had something else in his mind. Before even asking Philip, “Where are we going to get this food from?” he knew what he was going to do…John tells us that. It was more important for the people to eat together in that experience. There was something to be gained by sharing food together.
When Jesus and the disciples ate together by the Sea of Galilee, they were announcing, by their sharing, that a new relationship was being established between Jesus and his disciples and all the hungry whom they fed. Jesus was investing a lot more in this event than just feeding the poor. In those times, if you were invited to a person’s house for dinner, it wasn’t just a casual invitation…it wasn’t something that was done without a lot of thought. It had a profound significance. If you were invited to somebody’s house, it was because they wanted to invest in relationship with you. And when you went to someone’s house, there was a covenant…there was a bond that was established. There weren’t these fast-food restaurants where people go and they may see each other at another table or at the drive-through. No, when you were invited to somebody’s house for a meal during Jesus’ time, it meant something. You were very special, and they wanted a continual relationship with you. That’s why the Pharisees would get so annoyed at Jesus when he was seen, eating with sinners! …Because there was a relationship that was implied. Jesus was developing a relationship with sinners?! Yes!
And so, Jesus feeding the multitude on that countryside was a very significant moment. He was beginning to have the people understand “communio”…community. We had a very similar experience this past June when we went to Honduras with our group. There are more than 50 communities that make up our Sister-parish, Santa Ana, in Honduras. About 70,000 people are in our care down there. Over the last seven years, I haven’t seen all of the places, and so, on this trip, we were going to a place that I had never visited before, that is part of Santa Ana. It was among the most poor of the places that I had visited, called “San Francisco”…St. Francis. This community is extremely poor. They live in very poor housing; there was nothing around…except children…and more children… and more children! There had to be 75 children in this community of about 25 houses…and they all seemed to be about the same age! They were shoeless; they didn’t have any shirts, and they were filthy from head to toe.
We had gone there the day before and had met them, and we were going to go back because we were building this square shed. We sawed wood and hammered wood together to make walls and a roof, and it was there that they were going to come together on a Sunday for the Liturgy of the Word since the priest only gets there every 3 to 6 months. And so, they would gather as a community. The lay leadership would lead them in worship and a reflection on the Gospel and they would pray and have Catechism for the children. They did this without priests…and they do that all over the world…and they do it well.
We were going back to San Francisco that day. Before we leave, we make our lunches…and we make sandwiches. And one day we have ham and cheese, and the other day, we have cheese and ham! We were making our sandwiches when somebody from the group said, “Why don’t we make enough for them so that we can eat together?” And, of course, being the administrator that I am, I said, “It’s not in the budget….” And so, the group dug into their pockets, and they took out the money. They went to the store and they bought bread, and cheese, and bananas and we made a hundred sandwiches. We brought them to San Francisco and after our morning work, the whole place came together…the children, the parents…and we ate together. And I said to myself, “Yes! It’s working! We are beginning to see the bigger picture of why we are going to a place like Honduras…why I want our young people to see a different part of the world and to come to know people who share the same faith but live in a different culture, and speak a different language. It was important that we ate together because we showed a certain respect for human life…the dignity of human life…and we fed the human spirit. That was such an important experience for us…and it came from the young people. That decision to buy the lunches came from the young people.
It’s the same situation with those who come in need and who serve right here…right behind this waterfall…this beautiful, beautiful waterfall. It kind of makes us forget about all things “not nice”. Behind this waterfall is a garage, and in that garage are shelves of food…canned goods, boxes of cereal. Every week, we give food to those who come and ask for it because they’re hungry. It’s not just about a handout. It’s one person, feeding another person. It’s a basic human need being fulfilled by another human being who cares.
The men from our parish who are regularly driving down to Pascagoula, Mississippi to assist the rebuilding of a Catholic church and a Catholic school after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, are doing exactly what Jesus did…He saw people in need, he responded and he showed his disciples the way. Do you see what’s happening in our parish? Do you see how the Gospel is not just words in a book, but it’s becoming part of our life…how we’re challenging each other to live it, to witness it, to teach our children about the values of the Gospel? Do you see how fuller our life is when we do God’s work, for God’s purpose?
As I reflect on this Gospel, I thought about how blessed I am to be a part of this community at this moment in time. I think about the thousands of families, couples, and individuals who come together, here, each week, to be fed. And as we come to the end of our 40th year as a parish, I think of all of you and those before you who have made this community what it is…and I’m thinking about all of you who have celebrated life’s greatest moments here, in this church…and those of you who have been strengthened and comforted…here…during life’s difficult moments. I think about how fortunate we are to have the Word, and to have the Eucharist, and to have each other. How healthy we are…how well fed we look…how nourished we are. Oh, we have our faults, and we have our shortcomings. I am a sinful person, and we are a sinful parish, and we belong to a sinful church, but we’re trying. We’re trying to live a Godly life. We are good people.
And then, as I further reflect on this Gospel of Jesus gathering the crowds and teaching them, and preaching to them, and feeding them, I think of all of the people who are not here…the people who have left the church. I think about your husband; I think about your wife; I think about your children; I think about your parents…and your grandchildren who are no longer coming to church. I think about the families who come here occasionally, or a couple times a year. I think about those who rush in and rush out…and I think about what they are missing…and I think about how hungry they must be. What will it take to bring them back? …An invitation? Maybe there is something that I can do…maybe there’s something that you can do.
It’s so important that we eat together.
God love you and God bless you. Amen.