Homily for 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time at Old St. Mary's Cathedral

     Do you remember the answer to the 16th Question in the Baltimore Catechism?  I’ll give you a hint.  Where is God?  And the answer is?  God is everywhere.  For those of you who grew up after the 1950’s, the Baltimore Catechism came before what we have now, The Catechism of the Catholic Church.  I think the answer is still the same.

Follow the logic: if God is everywhere then God is everywhere, therefore if God isn’t everywhere God is nowhere at all.  Since God is infinite, God is infinitely here and there; God can’t be more here than there because God simply is, infinitely and always unconditionally loving.  It just is the way God is.  As Moses was instructed: “Take off your shoes.  You are standing on Holy Ground.”  We are always standing on Holy Ground, we are always standing in the presence of God no matter where we are, or what we are doing.

Bear with me a tad longer.  God is perfectly present and perfectly hidden in everywhere and in every single moment of our lives.  God, is always hiding in plain sight.  God is perfectly present in every single item of creation: in stars, galaxies, comets - in the air we breathe and in the water we drink — in the food we eat — in every single person we meet no matter who they are; and God is perfectly hidden in exactly these same things and people; even those we can’t stand or despise.  Our liking or not liking does nothing to change the infinite value of anything or anyone.

The problem with the people in today’s Gospel story is that they could only see the signs, the bright shiny objects of healings and lots of food.  I presume only a few could see the source of that bounty — and Jesus was only useful to them so long as he continued to heal and feed them.  They didn’t realize that Jesus was trying to awaken in them the power to heal and feed one another.  Unfortunately, we often find ourselves in the same boat.  As the saying goes:  “Give a poor person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach them how to fish and you feed them for a lifetime.  The crowds being fed in today’s Gospel have only learned how to take — they have yet to understand how to give as they have been given.

Our spiritual life, our spiritual journey, is one of developing eyes to see God in all things and in all people and to grow in our ability to give as freely as we have been given.  This doesn’t happen overnight — it takes a lifetime, a lifetime of trial and error.  We aren’t perfect and never will be.  What is perfect in us is God’s presence.  All of the love and power we need is present within us and the trick is to uncover it and begin sharing it with others.

As we get ready to celebrate our Eucharist we need to let go and allow ourselves to be enveloped by the total presence and total hiddenness of God with us.  Our society, our nation, mitigates against our experiencing this deep mystery.  We live in a nation where enough is never enough, where even too much is never enough.  We don’t really want freedom, we want security, and craving security will never allow us to be free.  We will always be on guard — protecting ourselves and our stuff from God knows what; and if we want to build a vibrant spiritual life, to truly experience the risen Christ in our lives, we cannot build it on security.  

The people in the Gospel wanted to make Jesus king and so while they were filled for the moment, they went away unsatisfied.  Some, I presume “got it” and were able to experience abundance wherever they went.  As we approach our Eucharist and receive Holy Communion —- we will all be fed with the very Body and Blood of Christ, and hopefully, we will be among the ones who will be able to see and share the abundance of this Love throughout the coming week.”