St. John Nepomucene

18th Sunday
God Call Us to Feed One Another
August 1st & August 2nd
 

God calls us to feed one another.  This miracle story is told in all four Gospels.  There is the need for food.  There are 5,000 people who need to eat.  The apostles suggest that Jesus dismiss the people.  This was a deserted place and they needed to travel to their villages to get something to eat.  Jesus’s response must have been startling.  Jesus says, “There is no need for them to go away give them some food yourselves...”  But, they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”

We do not know exactly the mechanics as to how the bread and fish were multiplied.  You could picture Jesus blessing the bread and the fish and then the bread and fish miraculously multiplying.

For another possible theory; I saw an old black and white movie many years ago.  The boy comes forward and shares the five loaves and the two fish before Jesus.  Jesus prays over the loaves and the fishes.  The crowd having witnessed this takes out their own food which they then share with their neighbors.  It would have been common for the people to take food with them in the folds of the garments or in a food pouch.  I personally am attracted to this theory.  The miracle of the loaves and fishes is a miracle of sharing.

Jesus says, “Give them some food yourselves.”  We are all called to feed one another.  In our parish, I am grateful to all of you who share your time, talent, and financial resources.  Because many of us open ourselves to the invitation of sharing, we have a vibrant parish community.

We still have our rectory food pantry open during the pandemic.  We are grateful for your donations of canned goods, nonperishable food items, and paper products.  People come to the rectory and ask for food.  Through your generosity, we are able to feed them.  Your donations of canned goods, nonperishable food items and paper products can be placed in the plastic bins at the exits of our church.  You can make your donations in the plastic containers anytime you come to Mass.  It is our response to the command of Jesus, “…give them some food yourselves.”  We are grateful to our parish St. Vincent de Paul Society and our rectory staff who assist us in this ministry.

Also, we assist at the Ozanam center at Holy Name, in distributing food to the hungry on particular Saturdays.  If you would like to volunteer your time in feeding the hungry at the Ozanam Center, please call the rectory, and we will forward your name and number to Tom Vavrek.

Additionally, your financial gifts to our parish and the St. Vincent de Paul Society enable us to assist our parishioners in emergency situations, paying rent or a utility bill when they lack the financial resources to do so.

These are some examples in which we answer the call, “…. give them some food yourselves.”  I am grateful for how this takes place in our parish and in our neighborhood.  Thank you for your support.

A final thought, on perhaps a humorous note, yesterday before the 4:00pm Mass I saw Gloria and Bob Seneff.  Gloria said, “We are in assisted living.  I assist my husband, Bob and my husband assists me.”  In a general sense, we can say that we are all in assisted living.  Husbands are to assist their wives, wives are to assist their husbands, and parents are to assist their children, children are to assist their parents. Ideally, we assist our families, relatives, friends, neighbors and the poor.

All of you are in assisted living.  The farmer grows the crops; the crops are processed and transported by truck drivers and end up on the shelves of a grocery store.  We are dependent on many people who assist us to live.  We are called to assist many people to live as well.

Father Jasany