Scripture:
Jeremiah 28:1-17
Matthew 14:13-21
Reflection:
What is the mission of the Church? Back in my student days, I had a teacher who asked this question a couple of times a semester. After giving us some time to share our answers, he would catch us and confuse us even more by stating that the church doesn’t have a mission. And then he would clarify, “The mission has a church.”
I’ve thought of this numerous times. It is frequently neglected in all church circles from small faith communities, to parish councils, to diocesan presbyteral gatherings. The mission has a church. Here in the US, we are more accustomed to strategies, planning and goal setting. We do so in order to fulfill the mission, yet we neglect to realize that our mission isn’t always the mission of Christ or the mission of the Gospel. When we start with the wrong point, we will never get the right answer. The mission has a church. This is something to ponder this day. And it is very applicable when we listen to today’s Gospel.
Truthfully, it would be easier to write about the beauty of Jesus’ miracle as he feeds the five thousand in today’s Gospel. Yet it is the disciples in this story that resonate within me this day. This version has some precious insights to Jesus who sees the crowd, seeing their brokenness, seeing their sick, seeing their hunger, seeing their need and responding from what he sees. What do the disciples see? Matthew says they see a deserted place. And they see their incompleteness. In their human compassion they ask Jesus to dismiss the crowd so they can go eat. But the crowd isn’t being held there against their will. Any of them can leave as they choose. Obviously, there is something deeper and more profound holding the crowd around Jesus.
As we grow in faith we realize that faith in Jesus, like all growth, moves through different stages. Early on we find an attraction of who Jesus is. Jesus has a way of seducing us and inviting us in. And as we get to know Jesus more and more, the authority, peace, presence, availability and the numerous other characteristics we find in Jesus become quite familiar to us. We are no longer as captivated on what initially drew us to Jesus. This doesn’t mean we have lost faith in Jesus, we have just moved to a new level of relationship with Jesus. As we mature in our faith, Jesus begins to ask more of us. Recall Jesus’ words to Peter at the end of John’s Gospel. “Peter do you love me?” Jesus begins to ask more of us, just like he does in the Gospel today, “Give them some food yourselves.” And it was hard for the disciples to see they had something to give. They are to use their eyes, their hearts and their gifts. But first they had to open their eyes and hearts. That is the conversion we all face today. Isn’t it more convenient for us to keep our eyes shut, accuse others, or resist to invest ourselves? It is so much easier to sit back and allow someone else to do the work.
I will ask again, what is the real mission of the Church? It certainly isn’t about asking God to fulfill our wishes. The underlying theme for today’s gospel is about being the hands and heart of Jesus. St. Teresa of Avila’s famous prayer flows from this attitude. “Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours…”
Personally, I will be the first to say that the challenge doesn’t get easier. Jesus will continue to invite us into greater sacrifices and deeper suffering. And like Teresa, I echo her attitude, why would anyone say yes to this? The answer is that it is not about any of us individually; it is about Christ. It is the mission on which our church was founded. And the greatest surprise is when we dig deep into ourselves and give of ourselves, we see Jesus’ glory in the simplicity of taking, blessing, breaking and giving. Standing back in awe and amazement, we pray; Not only is your presence with us Lord, you are absolutely amazing!
Fr. David Colhour, C.P. is the Provincial Superior of Holy Cross Province. He resides in Chicago, Illinois.