FINDING JESUS

IN A DESERTED PLACE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 18 Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, is, “Finding Jesus In A Deserted Place.”

Looking at your life have you ever been deserted - dropped - rejected from a relationship or a marriage that didn’t make it? Or you’re out of work or you’re out of meaning or out of sorts? Have you ever felt like you’re left all alone? You feel like burnt toast - a single slice of hard toast, no longer hot - you’re cold, dumped - tossed into a boneless garbage bag in a plastic garbage can - along with soggy spinach tossed on top of you - it too rejected after hiding in the back of the refrigerator for a week, and you’re just there - slowly becoming more and more soggy because you’re soaked in spinach juice - there along with egg shells, coffee grinds and a used t-bag or two?

Did you notice if Jesus was there in that same place - along with you and others?

Today’s gospel begins, “When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.”

We can picture that. Jesus, who was connected to John the Baptist, hears that John was killed, beheaded. Tough stuff. Wouldn’t we all become silent - like when we hear on the evening news about someone who was kidnapped and then found dead, beheaded, left behind some building next to or in a dumpster? Uggh! Tough stuff.

The gist or movement or argument of my homily is the following question: “Do we find ourselves reaching out for Jesus - looking for Jesus - finding Jesus - discovering Jesus more - when we are feeling deserted - when things are not right - than when we feel all is going well, all is flourishing - all is right?”

Do we pray more when in a storm than in calm cool weather?

Do we knock on God’s door more when someone is dying - or when we get a cancer scare - than in the middle of a golf game and we’re doing well - or we’re at Ocean City on vacation and the weather is perfect?

EMPTINESS AND FULLNESS

As I read today’s three readings as well as today’s Psalm 145 - I hear the themes of emptiness and fullness. We know both feelings - but I dare say - we know the feeling of emptiness more than the feeling of fullness. And paradoxically, sometimes when we feel filled, bloated, full of the wrong stuff, we can feel empty. Life is tricky. Life is intricate.

Here at St. Mary’s  Parish we have a lot of funerals. As priest I know the feeling of doing a funeral on a Saturday morning and then switching gears and doing a wedding on a Saturday afternoon. Sometimes, it’s hard to switch gears.

So there is a difference between at a wedding and at a funeral. There’s a difference between a honeymoon and a divorce. There’s a difference between winning and losing. There’s a difference between being cold watermelon on a hot day than being tossed toast or being that week old spinach in the back of a cold refrigerator and then tossed into the garbage on top of toast that was burnt and rejected.

And sometimes we all feel the need to escape, to run, to take a good walk - alone - to get in a boat, take a vacation, and get away from it all - to sort it all out - but sometimes we can’t catch a break.

When do we feel empty? When do we feel full? Do we ever spot Jesus in those places - in those moments?

If I heard 3 people say it lately, I’ve heard a dozen people say it: sometimes the evening news is too wrong - especially when it shows the wrangling and the theater and the push and pull and politics - this time using the debt. Then the play of that news is followed by a story about a bombing in Iraq or Afghanistan or Norway or wherever. Then there’s a story about fires or drought in the south or southwest and the hope for rain and on and on and on. Then they play a feel good story at the end of the evening news - maybe out of guilt - or maybe people on the staff feel a need for more balance.

How do newscasters switch gears? How do they stop from being robotic? How do they tell a story with integrity and authenticity night after night after night? I like to hear that some TV anchor is on vacation - because we all need “time-out’s” - escapes - from the everyday - especially when it’s hot and humid or it’s too much.

Is that what Jesus was doing when he escaped in a boat to a deserted place?

TODAY’S READINGS

Like a newscaster let me make a review of today’s readings.

Today’s first reading from Isaiah 55 is a classic text. We know the words. We’ve heard it sung: “Come to the water!” “All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; Come without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk! Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what fails to satisfy.”

Powerful words about basic human feelings of being thirsty and being hungry, wasting our money and our lives on what does not satisfy. We know the feeling. We’ve been there. Do you spot Jesus there?

Psalm 145’s response - which we sang 4 times - has the message “The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.”

Today’s second reading from  Romans  proclaims fullness and emptiness in a very powerful way as well: “Who can separate us from the love of Christ?” Christ is fullness. Then Paul mentions empty feelings: anguish, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, the sword. Then Paul mentions fullness as well as emptiness again: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Tag that. I’m going to get back to that at the end of this homily.

And then in the gospel for today we hear about food - 5000 plus people wanting food - food glorious food.

There are a lot of takes on today’s gospel. To me it’s a Eucharistic Text from the Early Church. We find it in all 4 gospels. (1)

I think of this gospel scene at the moment of the Mass when giving out communion. This gospel story gives us the beginnings of the never empty basket, the never empty ciborium, the never empty tabernacle, the never empty hands of Christ giving bread to our world.

I love giving out communion - the Bread of Life. I love it when a parent comes down the aisle at Mass with a little kid - who hasn’t made his or her first communion yet - and the kid reaches out for the Bread of Life. When I see the kid doing what the parent did - putting their hand out to receive, I pray: “Keep reaching kid, keep hungering kid, keep wanting kid.”

Christ tells his disciples to keep on handing out the bread - today - tomorrow - and forever.

The dish - the cup - the basket never runs out of the bread.

Come to the banquet!

DESIRE - FIRE - HUNGERS - THIRSTS - OUTSIDE AND IN

Being a priest I have thought an awful lot about the Mass - especially the Mass as a banquet - the Mass as a meal - when thousands and thousands and thousands of people come week after week to be fed with Jesus the Bread of Life.

Being a human being I have also thought about food - the place of food in our lives.

The four gospels feature food as central to life - obviously.

The four gospels feature Jesus talking about food, feeding people, eating with people - being in communion with people.

When we find ourselves in deserted places - or on a bottom shelf in the back of a refrigerator - we sometimes ask ourselves, “What am I after? What am I searching for? What are my hungers and thirsts? What are my needs? What are my desires? What are my fires? What am I buying?”

Do we find Jesus sitting there in the deserted places where we find these questions often arising in?

For starters we know we need food and drink, bread and wine and fish.

Everybody does.

TV news reminds us of places around the world where people are reaching out for food and drink - especially the starving.

We see children down to bare bones reaching out for bread and water - anything.

Food glorious food. There is enough for everyone - if we can get our act together - if we can change our priorities - especially if we put into practice the cry of the prophets: "to hammer swords into ploughshears, spears into sickles - nations not lifting sword against nations - nor train for war no more." This might be thought to be poetry - but I'll take Isaiah, Joel  and Micah as my prophets and profits. (2)

THE DESIRE FOR MORE

We always want more.

On these hot days the cold water font or the bottled water section of the store screams, “Come to the water!”

I love it when people coming up or down Duke of Gloucester Street stop in here for the water cooler down the corridor - so I can’t wait till this reconstruction is finished - so that scene will be playing again.

Come to the water.

There’s a message here!

Jesus hung out at wells. (3)

Jesus said he was the living water.(4)

Jesus said he was living bread. (5)

Jesus took bread and wine and said, “This is my body. This is my blood. Eat me. Receive me. And if you do eat me up, you’ll have everlasting life. (6)

As Christians we believe that Christ challenges us to look at what we are thirsting and hungering for in life. We're hungering for meaning - for what makes sense - for good news - for stories of people serving people - doing their job as parents - as engineers - as sales people - as computer experts - as public servants - as teachers - as doctors. I love the story that Martin Luther King was down in Memphis, Tennessee in support of garbage collectors when he was assassinated. Horrible, but he was there for others.

Next there are all those inner hungers and thirsts that every human being has.

As Christians we believe Christ taught us everyone is hungering and starving for love, for recognition, for appreciation, for acceptance, to be listened to.

As Christians we believe that we all need these signs of love and acceptance - and we in turn can do these things to one another - love spelled out.

Each of us has our five loaves and two fishes of love inside our cloaks and Jesus is calling us to give these gifts of love: recognition, appreciation, acceptance, affirmation, being listened to, taking time to be with, sharing food with - every day - and the miracle is these 7 gifts will never run out - if we love one another.

This week look people in the eye - people whom we are with all week - look deep into their eyes. Recognize them. Wonder what makes them tick. What are they hungering and thirsting for from me?

This week listen to people with our ears - people we’re with all the time. Listen to them deep into their ears. Hear what they are saying and not saying. What are they hungering and thirsting for from me?

CONCLUSION

Today is the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola who founded the Jesuits - whose great principle for how to discern in life is: if what you're doing is giving life, more; if what we’re doing is killing self and others, less.

Tomorrow is the feast of St. Alphonsus de Liguori who founded the Redemptorists - the priests in this parish. His great principle for a spiritual life was practicing the love of Jesus Christ. Be careful. There are things that can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. So practice loving Christ. Practice loving how Jesus Christ loved. Wash feet. Give glasses of cool water. Eye ball people. Listen to people. Be with people in their broken places - in their painfilled places. That’s where Jesus hangs out and waits. Feed them. Be present to them. Be Jesus for them in those deserted places. Amen.

Notes:

(1) Matthew 14: 13-21 today's text - as well as Mark 6: 31-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6: 1-15.

(2) Isaiah 2:4; Joel 4: 9-11; Micah 4: 3.

(3)  John 4: 5-42

(4) John 7:37-38

(5) John 6: 32-66

(6) Luke 22: 14-20; Matthew 26: 26-28; Mark 14: 22-24; 1 Corinthians 11: 23-25.