The Sunday Sermon Archive

Dear Friends,

God, in His infinite compassion, continually provides for us. However, due to our fallen nature, our indifference, or the blindness caused by our sins, it takes a wonderous miracle for us to fully appreciate His love and care.

In today's Gospel reading (St. Mark 8. 1-9), we read of the second multiplication of bread and fish to feed the multitude of people. People followed Jesus into the wilderness on both occasions, seeking healing and cures. They did not ask Him for bread, but He, kind and foreseeing, gave it to them even though they did not ask and said to His Disciples: "I have compassion on the multitude, and shall not send them away fasting."

Let us remember that God, in His divine wisdom, knows what we need and when we need it. The people were following Jesus for three days, and it was not until the third day that He provided food for them. And the food that He gives them is the simple and basic food of bread and fish. Jesus could have provided a great banquet for everyone, but He did not. This serves as a reminder that the temporary pleasures of our bodies are not always what we need or what is best for us. God's desire is to give us eternal pleasure for our souls. He wants us to seek the Kingdom of God and its Justice first.

The health of our bodies and the food for our bodies is important, and God often does provide this for us. But not always. Sometimes, God allows sickness, infirmities, hunger, and pain in our lives here on earth because this is what is best for the life of our souls. Pursuing the comforts and pleasures of this life and our physical bodies is most often an impediment to the health and life of our souls. For this reason, Jesus passionately tells His disciples to deny themselves daily and take up their crosses to follow Him, inspiring us to seek spiritual fulfillment over temporary pleasures.

Let us reflect on the wisdom of Our Lord. The best food for our bodies is not the extravagant delicacies that often bring ill health or disease. It is the simple, plain food that sustains us. It is said that everything has its price, and the cost of many delectable foods is ill health. The pursuit of bodily health necessitates self-denial and hard work. But this should not be our primary goal either. Our ultimate goal should be the eternal happiness of Heaven. What is the price we need to pay to obtain eternal happiness? It is self-denial and hard work in this life. Pursuing eternal happiness will aid us in eternity and this life because the cross and self-denial also provide health, strength, and vigor to our bodies here and now.

God has prepared a very bounteous table before us with countless blessings in this life. These gifts are given to help us love and serve Him better, not to take His place in our hearts and minds. Moderate use of everything obtains both pleasure for our bodies and happiness for our souls.

Just as we are not to greedily pursue the various blessings God has given us, we should not despise them either. Jesus had the Disciples gather the fragments left over after everyone had eaten. God's blessings, even the most plain and simple, are not to be squandered or wasted.

We should partake of God's gifts, not to the point of satiety or overindulgence. We must find a moment before this and say I will deny myself any more than this for the love of God. It is a balance to accept what is necessary for our lives yet refrain from taking more than is necessary.

The people were following Jesus for the cure of their bodies to the neglect of their need for food. God provided for them. This reinforces Jesus' teaching to seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, and everything else will be given to you besides. But, this feeding of the multitude is more noteworthy than the many cures of blindness, deafness, bodily crippling disease, etc. What makes this more noteworthy for the evangelists who record these events is that this is another preparation for the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

If Jesus can effortlessly change water into wine and multiply bread and fish to feed a multitude of people, He can just as easily change bread and wine into His Body and Blood and give us His Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist to the end of time.

We do not need to receive a large physical piece of the Holy Eucharist because we are not feeding our bodies but rather our souls. Even in the tiniest fragment of the Holy Eucharist, Jesus is present, truly and completely, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. The Holy Eucharist is not dead flesh but the Living Jesus. He comes to us in the Holy Eucharist under the appearance of bread and wine to feed our souls. He does not come as a banquet for our bodies and our stomachs or for us to share a meal with our family, friends, and neighbors. He comes to us in Sacrifice in the simplest and humblest forms (under the appearance of bread and wine) for the life of our souls.

For the life of our souls, we do not need to consume a copious physical quantity but rather a copious spiritual quality. One Holy Communion received well is better than many received indifferently, thoughtlessly, or carelessly.

When Jesus offers Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist, let us receive Him, not as food for our bodies but instead as food for our souls. We should not neglect Him or turn away from Him when He comes to us, but we should also not receive Him ill-prepared or unworthily.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!

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