But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
(Gal. iv. 26) At the very beginning of Lent, our Lord insists, Behold we go up to Jerusalem. (St. Luke xviii. 31) We began our journey at Christ's command. Long journeys are hard work, and this Lenten journey is no exception. For nearly seven weeks, Christians are invited to walk with Jesus towards Jerusalem. Walking up to Jerusalem is what our lives are all about. We walk with Jesus to see how, in the wilderness and desert of the human soul, He conquers the temptations of Satan and triumphs over sin for us. We walk with Jesus to discover that, like the woman of Cana, we are exiles, strangers, aliens to God’s promises, and even dogs who must humbly eat of the crumbs that fall from the Master’s table. (St. Matthew xv. 27) We walk with Jesus also to learn that we have been mostly deaf to the Word of God and, thus, incapable of speaking the truth. And today, we must learn that Jesus Christ comes to us to feed us miraculously with the Bread of Heaven. But you will have noticed that our Lenten pilgrimage with Jesus up to Jerusalem will not be easy. Lenten learning about ourselves – who we are and what we need, is spiritually exhausting. Lenten fasting and abstinence make us haggard and hungry. At times, we become distracted and even lose our way. The sins that so easily beset us may well have been overcome, but seven other demons worse than ourselves threaten to consume us. (St. Matthew xii. 45) Satan realizes that he is losing our spirits, and so he attacks our bodies with renewed vigor through the elements of this world. (Galatians iv. 3) We have good intentions but find ourselves much like the children of the proverbial Hagar, Abraham’s mistress, and bond woman –giving birth to the earthly bastard offspring of vice. We want freedom as the children of promise, and followers of Jesus, who go up to Jerusalem which is above… and is free. (Galatians iv. 26) Yet it seems that the more we try, the further back we fall. Today Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church, provide us with what we need. Today is Dominica Refectionis –Refreshment or Mothering Sunday, when Mother Church asks us to sit down and rest awhile, to find some spiritual refreshment so that our pursuit of Jesus Christ will not be in vain. Today, we are asked to stop, breathe, and contemplate the end and meaning of all our labors. So, we read that Jesus went up into a mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. (St. John vi. 3) Jesus bids us come with Him to the mountain of His holiness so that He might give us a foretaste of our heavenly future. He knows that we are in danger of spiritual languor and listlessness. He intends to provide us with that spiritual food that will give us the dogged and dauntless determination to press on. Jesus commands, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. (St. John vi. 10) St. John Chrysostom tells us: That Jesus calls us up to rest at intervals from the tumults and confusion of common life. For solitude is good for the study of wisdom. And often doth He go up alone into a mountain, and spend the night there, and pray, to teach us that the man who will come most near to God must be free from all disturbance and must seek times and places clear of confusion. (St. John Chrysostom: Homily xlii) We must sit, listen, and hear. Yet it is Lent. We are worn out, and Jesus asks us, Whence shall we buy bread that [we all] may eat? (St. John vi. 5). Our minds are bent on earthly things. Jesus intends to test us with Philip, for he Himself knew what he would do. (St. John vi. 6) Philip has seen the finger of God at work in Jesus’ miracles. Will we, with him, believe that Jesus can provide food that no man can afford and for so many? What measure of faith does Philip have? What measure do we have? Are we the children of Hagar, born after the flesh or are we the children of promise? (Gal. iv. 23) Philip answers as one in bondage to the elements of this world. On our best of days, we do the same. He responds that even two-hundred penny worth is not enough for this crowd. (St. John vi. 7) An earthly-minded Philip is calculating the cost of feeding five thousand. Too many people, too little money, he reckons. Jesus intends to reveal the spiritual poverty of Philip’s faith. At the beginning of St. John’s Gospel, Philip found Nathaniel and said We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. (St. John i. 45) Philip is bold with words to predict who Jesus is. Now will his words be matched by true faith in what Jesus can do? As Archbishop Trench remarks, As yet, he knows not that the Lord whom he serves upon earth is even the same who ‘openeth his hand and filleth all things living with plenteousness,’ who feeds and nourishes all creatures, who has fed them and nourished them from the creation of the world…and can feed a few thousand now. Andrew will substantiate Philip’s doubt. There is a young lad who hath five barley loaves and two fishes, but what are they among so many? (St. John vi. 9) As Philip’s faith was overcome by too much doubt, Andrew’s faith was overcome by too little evidence. To offer to fill so many when the resources were few would have been crushing and embarrassing. True faith can often be destroyed when natural demands and natural provision are wanting. To Philip and Andrew, the Lord’s hand seems to be waxen short. (Numbers xi. 23) Normally, when ordinary and natural means fail us, we neglect to remember the power of the Lord. Jesus tells us to sit down, listen, and trust. He asks us to remember that we are going up to Jerusalem, that we are dogs eating from the crumbs that fall from His table (St. Matt. xv. 27), and that we must not only hear the Word of God but keep it. (St. Luke xi. 28) Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So, the men sat down, in number about five thousand. (St. John vi. 10) Jesus as much as said, You have nothing to set down before the men, but God provides you with a plush green dining area. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. (Ibid, 11) Our Lord thanks the Father in advance. All we have comes from the Father. What God gives to us from the hands of Jesus Christ will be more than sufficient to satisfy our hunger. Five loaves and two fishes will feed five thousand. In the normal course of life, food and drink are already multiplied into the larger gift of spiritual thanksgiving. The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field. Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. (St. Matthew xiii. 31,32) Jesus says, gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost. (St. John vi. 12) Those who are in bondage to the elements of this world (Gal. iv. 3) seldom have a thought for others who must share in our feast. With all that we are given, there must remain more for those who cannot yet feast with us. Food has been multiplied and shared with us. We must do the same. Are we the children of Hagar or Sarah? If we are the children of Sarah, with the Apostles, Matthew Henry suggests that we must See how large the divine bounty is; it not only fills the cup, but makes it run over; bread enough, and to spare, in our Father's house. The fragments filled twelve baskets, one for each disciple; they were thus repaid with interest for their willingness to part with what they had for public service. (Matthew Henry, Commentary) As St. Hilary suggests, the substance [of the five barley loaves and two fishes] progressively increases. (The Passing of the Law: St. Hilary of Poitiers) And as Archbishop Trench says, so we have here a visible symbol of that love which exhausts not itself by loving, but after all its outgoings upon others, multiplies in an ongoing multiplying which is always found in true giving.... (Par’s. p. 213) Christ is thankful and feeds the hungry five thousand. We must do the same. Christ intends that we should imitate His generosity. Therefore, the Apostles gathered the fragments together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. (St. John vi. 13) St. Augustine tells us that the fragments that remained were the parts that the people could not yet eat. (Tr. xxiv. 6) What remains over and above is the spiritual food that faith must learn to feed on. In the fragments that remain are hidden gifts of mystic meaning. Herein is that Divine potential for those who begin to hunger and thirst after righteousness. (St. Matthew v. 6) Jesus always provides more food to the spirit for those who follow Him in faith. Faith sees that the more than the multitude can eat is Spirit and is Truth. Within fragments and crumbs of earthly food, lie food for thought, food for the soul. Are we being called to feed only on earthly manna? Or are we called to digest spiritual truth? There is more to be needed and ingested from this Giver and His gifts, but not until the eyes of faith are opened and the believer’s heart is softened. Our eyes are opened, and our hearts are softened as we partake of the superabundant nature of God’s love in the Holy Sacrament today. Even here, let us then gather up the fragments that nothing be lost. (St. John vi. 12) We will need them. Behold we go up to Jerusalem to the Jerusalem of the Cross. Mere earthly fare will never sustain a faith that seeks to behold and plumb the depths of that love that never stops giving…even in death., Christ’s death and ours. Amen. ©wjsmartin Comments are closed.
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St. Michael and All Angels Sermons:
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