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| Mosaic on the floor of the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, at Tabgha, on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel |
(Seventeenth Sunday of the Year
(B): This homily was given on July 29, 2012 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly
[For the audio version of this homily, click here: Seventeenth Sunday 2012]
To create means “to make something
from nothing”—which is why only God can create!
Now, I know, we often speak of human beings “creating” things such as
great works of art—paintings and sculptures and the like; but when we do that it’s
important for us to remember that we’re actually using the word “create” in an
analogous sense—because even the greatest artist uses materials which already exist! What an artist or craftsman makes, he makes
from something else, from something that’s already present in the world.
So only God can create, properly
speaking.
But Jesus Christ was (and is)
God! He’s the Second Person of the
Blessed Trinity, who assumed a human nature 2,000 years ago in the womb of the Blessed
Virgin Mary.
That means that he had the ability
and the power to create enough food
to feed all 5,000-plus people in today’s gospel story with a simple and direct
command! All he had to do was say,
“Bread and fish, come into being”—and they would have!
But that’s not what he did! What he did was to ask a rhetorical question,
and then wait for someone to offer him
what they had; to give him what they had to give.
And when a little boy did that—when
he (with the help of the apostle Andrew) brought forth the five barley loaves
and two fish and presented them to Jesus—the Lord immediately went to work and multiplied the gift!
He multiplied it a thousand-fold!
This, my brothers and sisters, is
how God very often works in our lives! He
waits for us, under the prompting of his grace, to give him what we have: our
gift of time, or talent, or treasure, or service—or all of the above—and then
he multiplies the effect of our
offering ten-fold or a hundred-fold or even a thousand-fold or more!
I’ll give you one very timely
example of what I mean. Last week we
took 50 teenagers to the Steubenville East High School Youth Conference at
U.R.I. As I said in my homily last
Sunday, this is an annual gathering of about 3,000 teens from all over the
northeast, in which they have the opportunity to encounter Jesus Christ in a
personal way (especially in the sacraments), and to deepen or renew their
Catholic faith. These conferences
started at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio in the mid-1970s,
and they’ve become so popular over the years that now there are 17 of them
annually throughout the country. They
are popular, by the way, because they work!
They convert young people very effectively. The music is awesome; the talks hit them
right where they’re at—and they have fun and get to know Jesus Christ at the
same time.
But this is not the first year
we’ve done this. It’s the 20th! When we started off there were just a couple
of conferences a year, and all of them were out in Ohio, on the Steubenville campus. So we had to take buses there (which often
broke down along the way!) and drive for 12 hours from Thursday night into
Friday morning (sometimes with groups of close to 100 teens and chaperones). And
then, when we were there, we’d have to sleep in big circus tents (which
sometimes leaked when it rained) and endure oppressive heat—because the
conferences were all outdoors at the time (no air conditioned arenas back
then!).
And then, in the mid-1990s, when
they brought the conferences to LaSalette, we endured more heat and dirt and
rain and mud—and terrible food. But at
least the bus ride was a lot shorter!
My point, my brothers and
sisters, is that this trip has never been easy.
Just ask Christine Magowan, our D.R.E., who does a great job
coordinating this event every year and who’s been involved as a chaperone since
the very beginning.
And yet, it’s all been worth it—because
Jesus has taken what we’ve done (and endured) as clergy and chaperones—he’s taken, in other words, the “five barley
loaves and two fish” of our obedient service—and he’s multiplied the
effects of it a thousand-fold!
We’ve taken hundreds of teens to
these conferences in the last two decades.
More than a few have entered the priesthood and/or religious life. Some have become teachers in Catholic schools
and colleges. Some have gotten involved
in youth ministry. Many are volunteering
in their parishes and local communities.
Many are living their Catholic faith while working out in the
world. Many are good Catholic parents
who are trying to raise their children in the faith. (In fact, in this regard, we had a first this
year: we took a teenage girl to the conference whose mother had come with us 20
years ago—as a teenager!)
Yes, Fr. Ray, you’re getting old!
It’s always great to encounter
someone who used to come to our youth group or to the conferences with us, who
is now doing something great for God and the world.
A couple of years ago at U.R.I.
during the conference a very tall Franciscan nun came up to me.
She said, “Fr. Ray?”
“Yes.”
“Fr. Ray from St. Pius in
Westerly?”
“Yes. . . . Sister, do I know
you?”
She said, “Yes; I used to come
with you to these conferences about 10 years ago!”
Then I recognized her. Her name is now Sr. Pia, and she’s living in
a Franciscan convent in Pennsylvania; but I knew her many years ago as Trish
Meehan. She wasn’t from Westerly; she
was from South Kingstown, but she and her friend Jackie Bertrand used to come
to our youth group almost every Thursday night.
And, of course, they came with us
to the Steubenville conferences in the summer.
Sr. Pia is a nun; Jackie is a young
mom who now leads the Steubenville East group from St. Francis in Wakefield
every year.
Jesus continues to multiply the
good effects of our simple offering of “five barley loaves and two fish” in
people like Sr. Pia and Jackie Bertrand.
And I’m sure that will be true of
this year’s group. In fact, it’s already
begun to happen. On that note, some of our
young people wrote to me the other day about their experiences at the conference. I’ll close my homily today by sharing with
you a few of the things they said . . .
One person wrote: “This was my first year here at Steubenville
and it was so much more than what I expected.
I had an amazing time and don’t want to go home. . . . During Saturday
night adoration something hit me and I couldn’t stop crying. It was just so powerful and emotional. I honestly can say that I was so moved by the
whole thing and I wouldn’t take any of it back.”
Another wrote: “My experience at Steubenville was
life-changing. I experienced a
connection with God and an understanding of my faith I had never felt
before. I look forward to extending
everything I learned this weekend into my life.
I love feeling like I am so free yet so loved by God.”
One young man wrote: “I’ve never doubted Jesus’ true presence in
the Eucharist, but not until Saturday night adoration did I come to the full
realization that Jesus, the Son of the one, living and true God, was fully and
physically present. For one of the first
times, I truly saw and felt that I was kneeling in front of the Second Person
of the Blessed Trinity, the Word incarnate, Jesus Christ, my Lord, Savior, and
Redeemer.”
One girl who signed her
reflection “a renewed Catholic,” wrote: “As
soon as God sent me the sign I was waiting for, there were fireworks—literally!” (That’s true, incidentally. There were fireworks somewhere in the
Kingston area last Saturday night! How
nice of God to schedule things that way!)
Another girl said, “Reconciliation was by far my favorite part
[of the weekend], just to get everything off my chest.” (And I’m sure she wasn’t alone in her
perspective, since thousands go to confession at this retreat. We priests have trouble keeping up. And most of the priests will tell you that the
confessions they hear at Steubenville East are some of the most thorough
confessions they hear all year.)
And finally, this comment, which
in some sense summarizes all the others:
“Overall, the retreat is a memorable, life-changing experience that will remain
in my heart forever.”
Over the last 20 years, my
brothers and sisters, hundreds of young people from our community have had
experiences like this at the youth conference.
Not bad for our small, humble
offering to Jesus Christ of “five barley loaves and a couple of fish.”
What is God calling you to offer him in terms of time,
talent, treasure, and service? In other
words, what are the “five barley loaves and two fish” that he wants you to give
to him in your life, so that he can multiply them like he did in today’s gospel?
Reflect on that question during
this coming week—and, when God gives you an answer, resolve to act on it!
