August 3, 2009
Monday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
“Why do you treat your servant so badly?” Moses asked the LORD. “Why are you so displeased with me that you burden me with all this people? Was it I who conceived all this people? Or was it I who gave them birth, that you tell me to carry them at my bosom, like a foster father carrying an infant, to the land you have promised under oath to their fathers? Where can I get meat to give to all this people? For they are crying to me, ‘Give us meat for our food.’“ Numbers 11:11-13
Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over – twelve wicker baskets full. Matthew 14:19-20
Piety
(The Things We Leave Behind by Michael Card)
There sits Simon, so foolishly wise proudly he's tending his nets
Then Jesus calls, and the boats drift away all that he owns he forgets
More than the nets he abandoned that day, he found that his pride was soon drifting away
It's hard to imagine the freedom we find from the things we leave behind
Matthew was mindful of taking the tax, pressing the people to pay
Hearing the call, he responded in faith followed the Light and the Way
Leaving the people so puzzled he found, the greed in his heart was no longer around and
it's hard to imagine the freedom we find from the things we leave behind
Every heart needs to be set free, from possessions that hold it so tight
'Cause freedom's not found in the things that we own,
It's the power to do what is right
Jesus, our only possession, giving becomes our delight
We can't imagine the freedom we find from the things we leave behind
We show a love for the world in our lives by worshipping goods we possess
Jesus has laid all our treasures aside "love God above all the rest"
When we say 'no' to the things of the world we open our hearts to the love of the Lord And its hard to imagine the freedom we find from the things we leave behind
Study
Where do we turn to be sustained? Or where do we direct our grumblings?
As we think about the “daily bread” provided by the Lord in the desert and by Jesus, we think about that phrase every time we meditate on the Lord’s Prayer.
Historically, when a religious community was formed, the members set up the means to take care of the spiritual as well as the temporal needs of the members. Sunday on National Public Radio, there was a profile of St. Vincent’s Archabbey in Latrobe, PA. This was the first foothold for the Benedictine community in the United States. Upon founding the Abbey, Fr. Boniface Wimmer, a Bavarian monk, set up a gristmill which made the daily bread for the monks. Over the years, the monks have sold the bread and also brewed beer on this location.
The products and proceeds sustained the community and those who purchased them. You can “read all about it” at this NPR link. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111473689
Action
Been thinking a lot about the Michael Card song on “The Things We Leave Behind.” Maybe that is because one of our actions this week was to drop off Regina at the Raleigh Durham Airport for her to head down to her mission in Central America. First stop is six weeks in Xela, Guatemala to hone her Spanish and then on to Honduras to work at the “hogar” (orphanage) of Amigos de Jesus.
Despite four years in college and two more years working in Durham, she packed everything for her trip into two checked bags (bagpack plus suitcase) and one canvas carry-on sack.
Jesus said the blessing and broke the loaves. But then he gave the gifts to his disciples to share. They in turn gave them to the crowd. What is clear from today’s Gospel is that long before the disciples gathered back the twelve wicker baskets of leftovers, they also were charged with sharing the Bread of Life.
What are you sharing with the crowd? What is holding you back? Are you weighed down by too many “things” that you won’t need? Free yourself from these so you can be free to share the Bread of Life.
