Overwhelmed? So what! (Matthew 14: 13-21.)

My guess is you've heard the story about the man who went walking on the beach in the morning after a strong storm had pelted the beach. As soon as he stepped near the surf he saw thousands upon thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore lying in the morning sun. There were so many of them he had a hard time walking without stepping on one of them. They would surely die by the time the next tide came in. Yet about a hundred yards ahead of him was a small girl picking them up one by one and tossing the hapless starfish back into the ocean. When he got close to the child he told her that she was wasting her time. He said, "Young lady, why are you throwing those starfish back in the water? Don't you see that there may be millions of them? They are as far as we can see and the beach goes on for miles and miles. What difference do you think you're going to make?" She never hesitated in her task of throwing each individual starfish back into the surf for a new chance for life. While she was bending over to pick up her next one, she said, "Sir, to this one I'm making a huge difference." And she threw it into the sea.

A Methodist preacher friend of mine told me that story more than thirty years ago. I remember the story about the little girl making a difference, one starfish at a time, every time I hear the story of Jesus feeding thousands with a few loaves and a couple of fish. This was a huge miracle for Jesus. And, he may have done this more than once in his ministry. It is recounted at least once in all four of the Gospels. For the evangelists who were trying to write the important things for new Christians to know about who Jesus was and what he did in His short time ministering, this story of the multiplication of loaves and fish is the only miracle that is worthy of all of them repeating. That's significant.

Here are a few things to ponder as we prepare to hear this story again this weekend. First, Jesus doesn't just talk about God and His love. He does it. People were hungry and He fed them. They had a need. He recognized it. And He did something about it. It doesn't matter to me what side of the political fence you sit on regarding abortion, or human trafficking, or world hunger, or the environment, or immigration reform. Do something about it. Dive in and make a splash. Whether it is sincere prayer, or figuring which candidate to vote for, or volunteering at St. Vincent de Paul or Habitat for Humanity, or any way of sacrificing something of yourself to help someone else; we are called to care for the needs of those who are hurting and hungry. Yes, Jesus talked about loving, caring, feeding and forgiving. But He also cared, fed, forgave and loved. We are called to let others see our Creed in our actions as well.

Secondly, there were more than 5000 hungry people in the world when Jesus fed that group. Sometimes we offer the excuse that my little effort is not going to fix a global problem. So, why get involved? Or, my one vote is not going to fix the country. So, why vote? Even though we may get overwhelmed by the facts that there are fifteen people who will starve to death this minute and there are eighty-eight babies who will die by abortion this hour we are called to save the ones we can. Jesus chose imperfect people to be His first Apostles and disciples. Because of them and their faith people continue to be fed daily. Lives are saved medically by the Red Cross and faith based hospitals and organizations more numerous than any of us can imagine. Sometimes organized religion gets a bad rap, but we're doing some darned good stuff too. In fact in a lot of areas in the world we Christians are the only folks feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, visiting and caring for the sick and the dying. And almost all of these institutions and organizations care for one life at a time. Remember that the Grand Canyon was started by a trickle of water. Each of us can "feed" someone.

Finally, Jesus first invited the disciples to give the crowd something to eat. He was confident that they could feed the multitude. When they offered excuses of how little they had, Jesus took their little and made it enormous. In the hands of God we can do miraculous things. The tough part is that we have to place what we think is paltry (our lives) into the hands of Him who is the Lord of all Creation. Trust is a difficult thing. Jesus knew very well that His chosen ones were feeble and faulty. Yet He used these frozen few to build the Kingdom of God. We're still imperfect and He's still building. Offer your little to the Lord and see what happens!

peace,
Fr. Chuck Walker