Pastor's Column

Jul 30

Written by:
Sunday, July 30, 2006 

17^th Sunday Ordinary Time

July 30, 2006

 

          We can learn a great deal about how God prefers to act in our lives by studying Jesus' timing in today's gospel (John6:1-15).  As you may recall from last week's gospel, Jesus and the disciples have come to the far shore of the lake in order to have a retreat; instead, they end up teaching the vast numbers of people there for hours and hours.  It almost seems as if Jesus deliberately keeps the people there beyond the closing time for shops and restaurants.  The disciples are getting hungry, and are concerned about the crowds who have not eaten all day, and that Jesus is keeping them too long for them to have supper!

 

          It was obvious to everyone that a few loaves and fishes were not nearly enough to feed the crowd.  Jesus was ready to step in and help out, but notice what he required of the disciples to work the miracle: he asks that they give Jesus everything they have: all  the loaves and fishes.  Inadequate though they were to feed so many, Jesus started with this small offering.  It was small, but because they tried to give everything, it was enough, and God filled in the rest!

 

          The Lord has a distinct habit in our lives of providing for our needs, but also of waiting until the very end to do so.  I have noted this phenomenon many times in my own life.  Jesus acts this way quite frequently: for example, after hearing that his friend Lazarus was sick, Jesus delayed his visit four days, as if he was actually waiting for Lazarus to die rather than help him.  Of course, it was all a test.

 

          One place this characteristic of God shows up frequently is when we pray.  Almost anyone who has committed themselves to a prayer time on a regular basis has noticed that we often have to persevere through dryness and difficulty in prayer before we experience the presence of God. In fact, the Lord often waits until the end of the prayer time before his reveals himself to us (or even after it is over!), in order to build up our faith and perseverance, and to see if we will pray even when we don't feel like it. 

 

          Jesus is ready to multiply the loaves and fishes, but first he requires all the disciples have.  It is not enough, of course, but God works his best miracles in our lives when we are also offering everything to him, inadequate though it may be.  He may wait till the end to come through for us, but we can always count on him, to be there for us in the end.

                                                                             Father Gary