Community in Mission

The Gospel today is about faith and focus. It teaches that though storms and struggles inevitably arise, we have a choice as to whether we focus on them or on Jesus. The  admonition of this Gospel is clear: keep your eyes on the prize … hold on!

Let’s look at this Gospel in four stages: Perceived Distance, Produced Distress, Point of Decision, and Process of Development.

I. PERCEIVED DISTANCE – The text tells us that Jesus drew back from the disciples and sent them to make the crossing of the lake on their own, intending to join them again later. During their crossing they encountered a storm. After he had fed the people, Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone.

In this brief text we encounter the mystery of God apparently hiding His face. Jesus, in drawing back from his disciples, exhibits the mysterious truth that God sometimes seems to hide His face. Scripture speaks elsewhere, elegantly, of this human experience:

1. Ps 13:1 How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
2. Ps 30:7 By your  favor, O LORD, you had established me as a strong mountain; then you hid your face, and I was dismayed.
3. Ps 44:24 Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our body cleaves to the ground. Rise up, come to our help! Deliver us for the sake of your steadfast love!
4. Psalm 22: My God, My God, why have you forsaken me.

And thus Scripture attests to the human experience that God hides His face from us.

But does He actually do so? Certainly to us it seems that He hides His face. But does He actually do so in such a way that He forgets about us?

Note that Jesus is not away on vacation. Neither is He out on the golf course. Rather, He is praying. As such, He is in communion with His Father, but surely also with His disciples. And while the storm grows, He makes His way toward them in stages.

At first they cannot see Him. Be He surely sees and knows them. Later, even when they do see Him, they cannot understand at first that it is He. They even mistake Him for a ghost, for someone or something that means them harm.

And so it is with us. For it often happens that we, too, conclude that God has hidden His face, that He is not mindful of the troubles we face. It seems to us that He is distant, perhaps unconcerned, and surely not visible to us.

But it is not always that God has simply hidden His face. It is often that we simply cannot see Him for any number of reasons. Sometimes it is simply that our minds are too weak and easily distracted. Sometimes it is our flesh, which demands to see everything in a physical manner and refuses to accept the reality of spiritual sight. Sometimes it is our prejudice, which demands to see and understand only in ways acceptable and pleasing to us, as if God could not possibly speak through our enemy, or through a child, or through a painful circumstance. God is there; He is not likely hiding but we struggle to see Him for these and other reasons.

So if God is hiding it is usually in plain sight. For in the end how can we possibly run away from God? Where could we go that He is not already there? Scripture says,

1. Psalm 139: O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar … You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths of hell, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, and settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
2. Jeremiah 23:24 Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the LORD.

God permits us to experience His apparent distance and our experience of the hiding of His face is clearly attested to in Scripture. But this hiddenness is mysterious, for though God seems hidden, He is in fact more present to us than we are to our very selves.

What God offers us in this Gospel is a faith that grows to understand this and to see God always, a faith that permits us to be in living, conscious contact with God at every moment of the day. This is the normal Christian life that Christ died to give us. If we will be open to receive it, our faith will grow. And as our faith grows, so does our ability to experience this presence beyond what our senses can perceive. Yes as our faith grows, even in the midst of storms, we can still know He is near and draw strength and courage.

And this leads us to the next stage.

II. PRODUCED DISTRESS –  Added to the disciples experience of distance from the Lord is the distress of the storm that assails them. The text says, Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.

To the degree that we do not see the Lord we will be anxious about many things. In the perceived absence of God, fears increase and shadows grow longer. In this sense much of our distress is self-produced. That is, it is the product of our lack of faith and our lack of awareness of God’s abiding presence.

Bishop Fulton Sheen used the image of the red sanctuary lamp near the tabernacle, which signals the presence of the Lord. Near the light we bask in its glow and enjoy its comforting warmth. But as we walk away from it the shadows grow longer and the darkness envelops us.

And so it is for us who lose a sense of God’s presence or willfully refuse to acknowledge that presence: the shadows lengthen, the darkness envelops, and the storms become more terrifying.

We now see why it is so important for us to accept the “normal Christian life” of being in living, conscious contact with God. For knowing God does not mean that there will be no storms. But it does mean that we can face them with courage and trust.

There is an old saying, “Stop telling God how big your storm is. Tell the storm how big your God is.” This can only come as we grow in faith and the experience of God’s presence.

An old gospel hymn says,

When the storms of life are raging,
Stand by me;
When the world is tossing me
Like a ship upon the sea
Thou Who rulest wind and water,
Stand by me.

In the midst of tribulation,
Stand by me;
When the hosts of hell assail,
And my strength begins to fail,
Thou Who never lost a battle,
Stand by me.

Now comes stage three.

III. POINT OF DECISION – The text begins at the crucial point of the drama: During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Now the Lord presents them with a choice: focus on the storm or focus on Him. He does not just say to them, “Do not be afraid.” He says, “It is I; do not be afraid.” In other words, if they focus on Him they will not be afraid. If they come to experience His abiding presence many of their fears will dissipate.

It is the same for us. If we will accept the normal Christian life and come to more deeply and constantly experience the Lord’s presence, our fears will dissipate. It is NOT that there will be no storms. Rather, it is that they will not overwhelm us with fear.

So we also have a choice to make: either focus on the storms in our life or focus on the Lord. And the result will be that we will either live in growing fear by focusing on the storms, or we will grow in confidence and trust by focusing on the Lord.

There is an old saying, “What you feed, grows.” If we feed our fears and negativity they will grow. But if we feed our faith and trust they will grow.

So, what’s it going to be? What will we focus on? What will we feed?

Pray for the gift to focus increasingly on the Lord. Pray for the gift to feed your faith and starve your negativity and your storm-focused fears.

IV. PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT – The decision before the apostles is now clear. One of them, Peter, accepts the Lord’s offer to focus on Him rather than the storm. But as we see in the text, the decision to do this is, like most things in life, more of an ongoing process than a one-time decision. It is something we must grow into by making many small decisions that develop into greater capacities by a process of growth in the grace the Lord is offering. Let’s look at Peter’s process:

1. Acceptance – Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” – Things begin with Peter accepting the Lord’s call to shift his focus and to thereby accept courage and see his fears diminish.
2. Action – Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. It is a truly remarkable courage that Peter receives by shifting his focus to the Lord. It is astonishing to see him walk on the water and be almost heedless of the storm or the seeming impossibility of what he is doing. That he is walking “toward Jesus” is an indication that his focus is correct. Thus his courage is astonishing.
3. Anxiety – But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink … – But here is where Peter gets into trouble. He shifts his focus back to the storm. At that moment his fear returns and he begins to sink. This is the human condition: we seldom go from zero to sixty all at once. Rather, we undertake a process of growth. Peter had done what was right. He had turned his focus to the Lord and his fear dissipated. But as is often the case with the inexperienced, his execution of the plan faltered. It is almost like a young boy riding a bike for the first time. He rides twenty yards and thrills in his newfound ability. But soon enough his thoughts turn back to the dangers and he wobbles and falls. But he will be all right if he gets back up and tries again. And though he has failed for the moment, something in him has changed. For, having felt the capacity to ride move through him, he will build on this and gradually riding will become second nature. So it is for Peter and for us. At first, faith and trust are hard. We step out, but only for a moment. And then we fall. But if we get back up again, we know something within us has changed. And that change grows in us if we engage the process.
4. Acclamation – he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Even in his fall Peter still does the right thing by calling on the Lord. If you’re going to fall, fall on Jesus. Thus his failure is not total. His faith is weak but his instincts are right—he fell on Jesus.
5. Assistance – Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter … If we take one step God takes two. Jesus says, No one who calls on me will I ever reject (Jn 6:37). Peter may have fallen short of the goal but he has made progress. And later in life this moment of rescue will be an important ingredient in his bold faith. But more growth, and the Holy Spirit, will be needed to quicken his faith. But it will happen. Peter will grow and the process of his development in faith will continue by God’s guiding hand.
6. Admonition – and [Jesus] said to him, “O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt?” Pay careful attention to what the Lord says here. He does not say that Peter has no faith; he says that he has little faith. Peter has stepped out in faith but he must continue to grow. His doubts must diminish; he must come to a stronger faith. As God said through Isaiah, If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all (Is 7:9). So Peter’s task is clear: he must continue to grow in his faith as must we. And if we do we will see our fears dissipate and our courage grow stronger. Peter has “little faith.” And that is the problem for most of us, too. But at least Peter has some faith—and so do we. So our cry is that of the apostles: Increase our faith! (Lk 17:5)
7. Amazement – After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.” Difficult though this trial has been, it has increased their faith. They still have a long way to go, but they’re on the way.

So we have a decision to make: will we focus on the storm or on Jesus? We have to keep our eyes on the prize. The Book of Hebrews says, Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2). That’s right, keep your eyes on the prize. Hold on!

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Lust is one of the seven deadly sins and it leads to very serious sins and a whole host of problems. Sometimes it’s good to get “busted” (i.e., caught) before it goes too far.

In the humorous video below, featuring (of all things) a family of dogs, the “father” finds his eye wandering where it should not and lingering a little too long. His “wife” gives him a salutary admonishment. The look on the daddy dog’s face at the end is priceless! Humorous though it is,  there’s also a good point being made: it’s better to get busted than “lusted” (i.e., carried off to destruction by lust). There are some puppy dogs in the back seat who are depending on their daddy to “stay in his lane.”

Scripture says,

1. Do not desire [forbidden]  beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes … Can a man carry fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk upon hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; none who touches her will go unpunished (Prov 6:25, 27-29).
2. None who go to her come back nor do they regain the paths of life (Prov 2:19).
3. But you laid your loins beside many women, and through your body you were brought into subjection. You put stain upon your honor, and defiled your posterity, so that you brought wrath upon your children and they were grieved at your folly (Sir 47:19–20).
4. With much seductive speech [lust] persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him. All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast till an arrow pierces its entrails; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life. And now, O sons, listen to me and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Let not your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths; for many a victim has she laid low; yea, all her slain are a mighty host. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death (Prov 7:21–27).
5. Israel is defiled. Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of harlotry is within them, and they know not the LORD (Hosea 5:3–4).
6. Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts (Eph 4:22).
7. Not in the passion of lust like heathen who do not know God (1 Th 4:5).

Well, you get the point: better a light rebuke now than punishing blows later. Lust is a dangerous fire. Enjoy the video and consider yourself warned! 🙂

P.S. I usually hate “men are stupid” commercials (which exist in abundance), but I’ll let this one pass since it’s about dogs. 🙂 🙂

We live in reductionist times, which is another way of saying that we live in times that have often cast aside the deeper, sacramental, and mysterious meaning of people and things.

Many human beings reduce themselves and others to merely biological realities. Gone is the soul and the mysterious spark we call life. Gone is the metaphysical; there is only the physical. Even our longings, our thirst and hunger for justice, our attraction to what is good, true, and beautiful—even these soulful expressions and their reach for what is not material are “understood” by many today merely as emanations of the chemicals in our brain.

It is all such a sad and reduced understanding of the human person. Somehow many see us as a merely biological “machine.”

Yet even among those who accept the existence of the soul, there is another reductionist tendency of seeing the body merely as a tool, or something we have, rather than something we are, in mysterious union with our soul.

I read today a beautiful description of the glory of the human person and also of the problem of reductionism. It is by Anthony Esolen, and appears in his book Defending Marriage – Twelve Arguments for Sanity. It is an excellent book—well worth reading—and from which I shall excerpt more next week. Regarding the human person, Esolen writes,

The human body is a precious thing, worthy of our reverence. It is not a tool, not an object of consumption like a steak or a keg of beer, not an animate provider of pleasure. It is the outward expression of a profound mystery, that of another human being. When we meet another human person, when we look at his or her face, we are in the presence of a creature whose like we have never found in all the rest of the universe. The human person is open to infinity … He can do more than apprehend the things he observes, he can imagine worlds he has never seen … honor and reverence is due to the astounding mystery of the human person … It is a contradiction to say, “I honor the human person,” while treating the human body as separable from the person using it as a tool, devouring [pornographic] images of it … One cannot at once love the beautiful and desire to defile it. It is like loving the Pieta with an ax (P. 51).

Yes, here is the glory of the human person and the human body: mysterious, wonderful, unique, and loved by God long before he or she was ever conceived (cf Jer 1:5).

When some speak to me in confession of their struggle with pornography, I often ask them to remember, before paging through hundreds of images of bodies and body parts, that there is a person “attached” to each of those bodies. And that person has had something go very wrong in her life that she would be led to expose the intimate parts of her body to be seen by those who should not.

She is someone’s daughter and she is God’s daughter. Surely at age ten she never dreamed of making her first porn pics while some stranger “did” her. Something in her life went very wrong, something worth grieving. Yes, there is a person “attached” to that body, and though the purveyors of pornography may seek to airbrush them away, the tracks of her tears are still there, seen and known by God.

Those who would victimize others or “consume” them like a product must first dehumanize them. And that is where reductionism comes in. The consumer of pornography must reduce the woman, whom he is actually consuming and using, to a body, to an image or picture. But she is not merely a body or a picture. She is a woman, a daughter, a sister; she is loved by God and something tragically awful has occurred in her life to cause her to take a turn down a very long and dark back alley.

Consider this well if you have a problem with porn, or know someone who does. Whatever the consumer of porn may think he is looking at, what he is actually looking at is a human person. He is also looking at a tragedy, a deeply sad portrait of a daughter of God who deserves more—so much more—than to be consumed as a product for sale. Yes, she is a human person. As Esolen says above, she is a person “whose like we have never found in all the rest of the universe … [to whom] honor and reverence is due [for] the astounding mystery of [her] person.” 

Reflect on these things before you click over to that porn site or do that image search; think and pray a great deal.

Here is a portrait of the life of one of God’s daughters. Her earthly father must also love her very much to put together this tribute to her. These are the pictures, taken in love, that every daughter deserves.

I am often struck by the mystery of the relationship that dogs and cats have with their owners. While I realize that we humans do a lot of projecting of what we want their behavior to mean, it still remains a deeply mysterious reality to me how our pets come to “know” us and set up a kind of communication with us.

Dogs, especially, are very demonstrative, interactive, and able to make knowing responses. Cats are more subtle, but my own cat, Daniel, knows my patterns and also knows how to communicate when he wants water, food, or just a back rub. He’s also a big talker, meowing all day long to greet people and get attention from them.

As I say, this interaction with our animals is a mysterious thing. I do not raise this to suggest they are on a par with us intellectually or morally. Scripture is clear enough that animals are given to us by God and that we are sovereign stewards over them. And while it is never right to abuse animals, it is right that we make use of them in appropriate ways and even make use of some of them as a food source (cf Gen 9:1-3).

But animals, especially our pets, are also to be appreciated as gifts from God. Scripture is also clear that animals will be part of the renewed creation that God will bring about when Christ shall come again in glory:

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:6-9).

In Revelation, John speaks of speaks of seeing a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1), and he describes Christ from his judgment seat finally saying, Behold, I make all things new (Rev 21:5). I have little doubt that animals will share in that recreated and renewed kingdom where death shall be no more (Rev 21:4).

Part of the Kingdom! Without elevating pets (no matter how precious) to the full dignity of human beings, it is not wrong to think that they will be part of the Kingdom of God in all its restored harmony and beauty.

Perhaps in the mystery of our interaction with pets, God is giving us a glimpse of the harmony we will one day enjoy with all of creation. Scripture says,

For indeed, creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God (Romans 8:19-21).

Yes, creation itself is eagerly waiting the day when God says (in the words of an old spiritual), Oh preacher fold your bible, for the last soul’s converted! And then creation itself will be set free from its bondage to death and decay and be remade into its original harmony and the life-possessing glory that was once paradise.

Perhaps the mystery of our pets is that they are ambassadors for the rest of creation, a kind of early delegation sent by God to prepare the way and the connections of the new and restored creation. Perhaps they are urging us on in our task to make the number of the elect complete so that all creation can sooner receive its renewal and be restored to the glory and harmony it once had. Who knows? But I see a kind of urgency in the pets I have had. They are filled with joy, enthusiasm, and the expectation of something great.

Joyful expectation! Yes, I have powerful memories of the dogs of my youth running circles around me, running to greet me when I arrived home, and jumping for joy when I announced a car ride or a walk. Even my cats of recent years, though more subdued, saunter over to meet me at the door with a meow and an arched back, rubbing up against my leg. And when I see this joy and expectation in my pets the words of Romans 8 (above) will sometimes come to mind: creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

All deep mysteries to be sure, but surely pregnant with meaning for us, humanity and all creation, for the birth of a new creation.

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Photo Credit Above: This is a picture I took of my brother’s Alaskan Malamute, Kaila, lying down with the family parakeet in early fulfillment of Isaiah 11 (quoted above)!

Enjoy this video of a dog looking with eager expectation to his owner. A friend of mine thinks this video was doctored, but I do not. Obviously the human voice coming from the dog is added, but as for the mannerisms, they are just what I used to see in my dogs. The appearance of the eyes and ears mean the dog is hearing his owner suggest a treat of some kind. This leads to nervous gestures such as standing, yawning, pacing, and even a moaning, which makes the dog’s mouth move as though talking; but actually he is just making small sighs, yips, and moans.  As you view this video, consider the words, creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

What we fear controls us. Consider the following story.

Trichloroethane, an aerosol propellant that was used in the spray cans of many household cleaners, is toxic when inhaled in large concentrations. Back in the 1980s, teenagers discovered that they could get high by spraying the cleaner into bags and breathing in the fumes.

A  label on the can clearly warned of death or serious injury if the product was inhaled. But the young people who inhaled it simply ignored these sorts of warnings, leading to a number of deaths.

The president of one aerosol company was told by his lawyers to make the warning larger. But the president argued against this since the warning was clear enough now but was simply being ignored. He said, “Death and serious injury do not seem very real to most young people thus they do not fear them.” “Instead,” the company president said, “Let’s consider … What do kids worry about more than death or injury? … How they look, of course!”  

Thus the company president directed that the warning instead say, “Inhaling  the fumes of this product may cause death, extreme hair loss, or facial disfigurement.”  But the attorney objected, saying that the warning was a lie. “No,” replied the company president, “It is not a lie. After death, extreme hair loss and facial disfigurement do in fact follow.”

The new warning really scared the target audience and the liability claims against the aerosol company dropped to zero.

What we fear controls us. Satan knows this and so do marketers. And while the story here features a company using fear to save lives, the more frequent use of fear is to control people for less noble purposes.

A good bit of marketing does not merely target our needs but also our fears. Thus many commercials begin their appeal by subtly indicating that we are not pretty enough, or not popular enough, or that we might have bad breath, or that we haven’t really lived and will not reach our potential unless we use “Product X.” If we do not have or use “Product X” we are inadequate; our life is a failure and others will surpass us or look and be more successful than we are. Other commercials warn us of every disease, calamity, or possible trouble. Then after inciting these fears, they offer to sell us medicines, insurance, alarm systems, or financial securities.

Of themselves, these sorts of appeals are not evil, but they do show how effective fear is in motivating and even controlling us. Companies spend billions on these commercials because they know that they work. 

Satan, too, uses fear to control us—especially the fear of rejection. Most of us have a natural desire to get along with others and to avoid unnecessary conflict. But given our fallen nature, we have this desire to a great fault. The desperate desire to fit in and be approved is one of the deepest wounds in the human heart. So pervasive is this sinful drive of fear that I have often wondered why it isn’t the “Eighth Deadly Sin.” As a sinful drive, this fear leads us to countless other sins.

So much do we fear rejection and not being popular that we will sin in very serious ways in order to gain the approval of others and the world. Young girls will give away their bodies to mere boyfriends in order to be approved. Young men will join gangs and get in all sorts of trouble to be approved and accepted. People will spend enormous amounts of money buying things they cannot really afford just to impress people they do not even really know or like. People will walk up to a group engaged in very ugly gossip or unchaste conversation and join right in just to gain entrance to the group. People will dress and act immodestly, even if it’s uncomfortable, just because “everyone else is doing it” and they feel they must also in order to be accepted and approved.

The list could go on but you get the point. What we fear controls us.

Well, God has a solution: fear the Lord. It’s a pretty good deal, actually, since fearing the Lord is easier than fearing ten thousand people, possibilities, and things. Hmm … one or ten thousand? … I think I’ll choose the fear of the one Lord! And while the fear that comes from Satan and the world is often a sinful fear, the fear of the Lord is a saving fear!

To be sure, the Lord would prefer us to have something more than cringing, servile fear (i.e., fear of punishment). But if that’s all you’ve got, start there. (You can read more on this topic here: Servile Fear is Salutary Fear.) The Lord will begin a process of perfecting your fear with increasing love so that it becomes a filial fear based in wonder and awe, a fear rooted in love of God, a fear that dreads offending someone we love and who has been so good to us.

Yes, what we fear will control us. But it is so much better to be controlled by the Lord, who loves us, than by Satan, who hates and lies to us, or by the world, which doesn’t really care about us. Choose the fear of the Lord and let him gently and lovingly take control.

There is a remarkable line in the first reading from Mass today (Monday of the 18th Week of the year) that is worthy of meditation for us all. It is a phrase that is practical, profound, and sweeping in its implications. It comes to us from the Lord through the mouth of Jeremiah the Prophet, who warns,

By breaking a wooden yoke, you forge an iron yoke! (Jeremiah 28:13)

The words have a historical context to be sure, but they also have a timeless context. (If you are not interested in the historical meaning, skip to the red text below). Jeremiah was commanded by God to wear a wooden yoke about his neck to symbolize the fact that God had delivered the land of Judah and the Jewish people into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (a name which, strangely, means “Large Wine Bottle”), the King of Babylon. God had done this to punish all of them for their infidelity and to purify them; they were to wear this yoke until God loosed it.

In doing this, God was resorting to a tactic he had used in the past: I will provoke them with a foolish nation (Deut 32:21). Considering the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar’s name, the people would surely have remembered the Psalm: Thou hast made thy people suffer hard things; thou hast given us wine to drink that made us reel (Ps 60:3).

And thus the Lord said through Jeremiah,

In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD. 2 Thus the LORD said to me: “Make yourself thongs and yoke-bars, and put them on your neck … 4 Give them this charge: ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel … 6 I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant … 7 All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave … 8 But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation … 9 So do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ 10 For it is a lie which they are prophesying to you, with the result that you … will perish. 11 But any nation which will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to till it and dwell there, says the LORD … 14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon,’ for it is a lie which they are prophesying to you. 15 I have not sent them, says the LORD, but they are prophesying falsely in my name … (Jeremiah 27, indicated verses)

Yes, God had chosen to use a foreign land to purify his people from their infidelities. The Lord even goes so far as to call Nebuchadnezzar “my servant” (verse 6).

Jeremiah was to display this by the wooden yoke he was to wear about his neck. Yet God is clear that the yoke is only a temporary measure (vaguely described as lasting for three generations in verse 7). After this time, God will act.

Nevertheless, and despite the warnings, false “prosperity” prophets arose and did just what God forbade: announced a quick end to the yoke. Thus we read the following in today’s passage:

That same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the prophet, son of Azzur, from Gibeon, said to me in the house of the LORD in the sight of the priests and all the people: 2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I … all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon, I will bring back to this place—oracle of the LORD—for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.” … 10 Thereupon Hananiah the prophet took the yoke bar from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it. 11 He said in the sight of all the people: “Thus says the LORD: Like this, within two years I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from the neck of all the nations.” At that, the prophet Jeremiah went on his way. (Jeremiah 28, indicated verses)

And then comes our warning text, the text for our mediation:

12 After Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke bar off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 13 Go tell Hananiah this: Thus says the LORD: By breaking a wooden yoke, you make an iron yoke! (Jeremiah 28, indicated verses).

That is what it meant then. Sure enough, the sufferings were intensified. The Babylonian captivity lasted for 80 years. Many Jews never returned from the diaspora.

But what does a text like this mean for us today?

By breaking a wooden yoke, you forge an iron yoke! (Jeremiah 28:13)

What is the wooden yoke if it is not the cross? Indeed the Lord says as much: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matt 11:28-30).

And thus the Lord has a paradoxical answer to us who labor and are heavenly burdened. He tells us to take the yoke and burden He has for us. The yoke is a symbol for the cross, and like most yokes, it connects us with another—in this case with the Lord! But to be sure he DOES have a yoke for us. We DO need purification and discipline. But the yoke He has for us is “easy.” The Greek word used is χρηστός (chrestos), a word which also has the connotation of being well fitting, serviceable, or adapted to its purpose. And thus the Lord’s yoke for us is productive unto the end He has in mind: our healing and salvation.

But do not turn the yoke (cross) into something abstract or think of it only in terms of big things such as cancer. The cross also has real, practical, daily dimensions such as adopting self-control and moderation. The cross (yoke) includes resisting sin, learning to forgive, and living chastely and courageously despite difficulties or persecution. These are common to all true Christians. There are also some specific crosses that we each carry, crosses that the Lord permits for our humility and purification. Perhaps it is a physical illness or infirmity; perhaps it is a spiritual emotional struggle; perhaps it is the loss of a loved one, job, or home.

These are the wooden yokes, the cross of the Lord, and He carries it with us, for we are yoked with Him (praise God). And since these burdens are from Him, they are “chrestos.” They are well suited to us; they are just what we need to avoid even worse things, including Hell itself.

But what if we break and cast aside the wooden yoke, as many do today by ridiculing the Christian moral vision and the wisdom of the Cross given to us by Jesus? As Jeremiah puts it,

By breaking a wooden yoke, you forge an iron yoke! (Jeremiah 28:13)

How is this? Well consider the toll that indulging in the moment can take. In rejecting the wooden yoke of moderation, chastity, and the limits of God’s moral law we forge the iron yoke of addiction, DUI arrests, obesity, financial trouble, sexually transmitted diseases, broken families, and all the heartache and social chaos that results. Pornography, lust, alcohol, and drugs enslave with an iron yoke. In refusing the grace to forgive, we fuel violence and conflict. Many wars in the world today are about grievances that stretch back many hundreds or even thousands of years. Our greed causes us to have an insatiable desire for more, and we begin to live beyond our means or to live lives that bring us more stress than happiness. Even just the simple neglect of our daily duties causes work to pile up and seem overwhelming.

All of these are like iron yokes; they come upon us because we break the wooden yoke of the cross. To be sure, fulfilling our daily duties, living moderately, chastely, and soberly are all crosses because they involve some degree of self-denial, at least in the moment. But the wooden yoke is a lot easier than the iron yoke that results if we cast aside the more gentle, manageable, and well fitting yoke of the cross.

Pay attention fellow Christian—Satan is a liar. He offers to lift the gentle yoke of the Lord. He expresses “outrage” that the Lord should require any suffering or discipline from us. He “takes our side” and utters a complaint on our behalf. But he is a liar and a fraud. And once we let him lift the wooden yoke he locks us in an iron yoke. Do not forsake the wooden yoke of the cross! For if you do, an iron yoke is sure to follow—soon!

It is a simple pearl of wisdom, yet it is so often ignored: By breaking a wooden yoke, you forge an iron yoke! (Jeremiah 28:13)

Jesus said, “What God has joined together, let no one divide.” But this is exactly what we have done in our divisive and reductionist time. We have done so not only with marriage but also with sexuality, procreation, and the raising of children. God has weaved together sex, marriage, and procreation. But we have separated and isolated them:

1. Regarding sex, we have said that there is no necessary connection between sex and procreation—we have done this with the contraceptive mentality.
2. Regarding marriage, we have said that there is no necessary connection between getting married and having children—we have done this through the widespread use of contraception and now by embracing the notion of same-sex unions.
3. Regarding children, we have even said that there is no necessary connection between having children and having sex—we have done this by in vitro fertilization, surrogate motherhood, and the like.

We have separated and isolated things that God has designed to be joined together. Sex, marriage, and procreation are meant to go together and each exists for and on behalf of the others. We have sown the wind and are reaping the whirlwind.

1. If it is widely held that sex is just about pleasure or “showing love” and has nothing to do with procreation, then for many it no longer makes sense to restrict sex to marriage or even to heterosexuals.
2. If it is widely held that having children is not an essential work of marriage and that marriage is just about two adults being happy, then for many it no longer makes sense to restrict marriage to heterosexuals.
3. If it is widely held that conceiving a child is no longer necessarily linked to the marital act, then it no longer makes sense to many that conceiving children in test tubes, borrowing sperm or eggs, or renting a womb (or any combination of thereof) is strange or problematic.

In separating what God has joined, we have become lost in a strange world in which life is on the one hand hated (via contraception and abortion), and on the other turned into a commercial product that is “up for sale” (via IVF, etc.). Indeed we have arrived at the era of designer babies; we are already into the first stages of cloning, gene splicing, and “Heather having three (or more) parents.” We are heading for the “hatchery” of the Huxley novel Brave New World and are also not far removed from the world of Orwell’s 1984.

And very few today bat an eyelash at the prospect. Very few have considered the darkness of turning human life into a designer product that is for sale: an egg from here, a sperm from there, a rented womb from over there, a couple of strands of DNA from here, and some more from there. Heather has four “parents” and a fifth “mother” in the womb that was rented to gestate her.

Even fewer seem to care that it is children who going to be born into this utter chaos and who are having this social experiment foisted upon them—an experiment in which they are the guinea pigs.  No, who cares about them; haven’t you gotten the memo that this world is all about adults and what they want? Marriage isn’t about what is best for children, it’s about adults and their feelings and what they want. Sex isn’t about children either; it’s about what adults want to do. And even having children isn’t about children! It’s about what adults want, when they want it, and in the way they want it. Yes, even having children is all about adults. And Heaven protect the child who has a disability—the vast majority simply aborted. Heaven protect the excess embryos (i.e., children) resulting from in vitro fertilization who don’t get selected for implantation by the doctor—it’s into the freezer or worse for them. And if you don’t think sex selection has been going on for a long time in this designer baby world, you’d better wake up and think again. Heaven protect the infant who is the wrong sex!

Dark (not brave) new world. Here is an excerpt from an article describing yet another dark side of the designer baby world:

A Thai woman who carried a baby with Down’s syndrome as a surrogate mother has vowed to take care of the boy after his natural parents gave him up …

The Australian couple left Gammy, now six months old, with Pattaramon Chanbua but took his healthy twin sister. Gammy has a congenital heart condition, a lung infection and Down’s and is in a Thai hospital for urgent treatment. [God is watching. Can you imagine appearing before the judgment seat of Christ with this on your record? Let’s hope they repent.]

A campaign to help the baby begun online after Thai newspaper Thairath published Gammy’s story last week. It has raised more than $150,000 (140,000 USD; £83,000) from 3,400 donors in 11 days. [OK, that’s nice, but how about a campaign to end the practice of surrogacy? Can’t folk sees that hideous outcomes like this are going to be more an more frequent when people turn human life into a product to be bought and sold, when they seek designer babies and throw away “imperfect” products and “misprints”?]

In Australia, Prime Minister Tony Abbott expressed his sadness: “I guess it illustrates some of the pitfalls involved in this particular business.” [Really, is this the best outrage that Mr. Abbott can muster? “Pitfall”?  “Business”?]

Ms Pattaramon was paid $15,000 (£9,000) to be a surrogate for the couple, whose identities remain unknown. She was told of the child’s condition four months after becoming pregnant, prompting the couple to ask her to have an abortion. She refused, saying it was against her Buddhist beliefs. [Great couple, huh? Also, too bad the woman’s Buddhist beliefs didn’t prevent her from renting her womb for $15K!]  (The full article is available here: Surrogate Mother Cares for Disabled Child Rejected by Biological “Parents”.)

So the darkness continues to grow, and as it gets darker it gets colder—in this case a lot colder. In this secular age some like to boast that there is no God. But the problem is that if there is no God then everyone is God. Stories like this remind us that if we try to play God, we’re going to do a lousy job of it.

The atheists and secularists may think of our God, the God of the Bible, in poor terms but at least in God’s world there is room for imperfection and mercy. Stories like the one above remind us that in this dark (not brave) new world, in which man becomes God, there is little room for imperfect children, and little mercy for them either. Designer life, up for sale, is not just a bad idea; it’s a dangerous and heartless one. It amounts to genocide against the disabled, who bring us gifts whether we acknowledge them or not. 

Where have these heartless, merciless notions come from? Pride? Sure, because we want to be gods who design and toy with life and reserve the right to kill what we have made. Lust? Yes indeed, because we want “sex” without cost or responsibility. Anger? Yes again, for increasingly we kill what does not please us. Sloth? That too, for most are too busy to care about the arcane stuff and relegate the matter to the “none of my business as long as no one gets hurt” file. Well many have been hurt and killed and lot more are going to be on death row mighty soon.

We have sown the wind and now we are reaping the whirlwind. It began with a great divorce wherein we separated what God has joined. Sex, marriage, and having children are meant to go together. We have separated and isolated them and thus we sowed the wind. And then came the whirlwind of abortion, promiscuity, AIDS, STDs, teenage pregnancy, divorce, cohabitation, single motherhood, homosexual confusion, and the entire meltdown of the meaning of marriage and human sexuality. In the end it is the children who suffer; it is always the children.

Call the Church out of touch; call us old fashioned; but don’t call us inconsistent. We are just as opposed to abortion and contraception (which facilitates sex without procreation) as we are to IVF, surrogate motherhood, cloning, and every other dark art on the way that wants children without sex or marriage. I guess we’re just strange that way. We really think that sex, marriage, and having children ought to go together. It’s what God set forth; it’s what’s best for children; and we ought not separate what God has joined.

We have in today’s Gospel the very familiar miracle of the loaves and fish. One is tempted to say, “Oh that one…” and then tune out. But if we will accept it, the Gospel today contains a very personal appeal from the Lord’s lips to your (my) ears: “There is no need to dismiss the crowds; give them some food yourself.”

Immediately all the objections begin to swim through our minds. But be still, and let us allow the Lord to instruct us and apply this Gospel in five stages.

I. THE IMAGE THAT IS EXTOLLED – The text says, When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.  The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns.  When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.

The text begins on a very sad note, with the death of Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist. We should not simply dismiss the kind of human grief Jesus must have experienced, and the text says He wanted to go away for a while, presumably to pray and grieve. It would seem that at the pinnacle of His public ministry He could only get apart by going out on a boat; and so He does. The text is unclear as to how long He was out on the water but it implies that it was only a short time.

Approaching the opposite shore, Jesus sees a large crowd and is moved with pity. He teaches them at great length and heals the sick. And here is the image that is extolled: although Jesus allowed himself this moment of grief, He also shows that the way out of grief is through love and concern for others. It is too easy for us in our own grief, anger, sorrow, or anxiety to retreat, to hide away. As an immediate reaction, this is understandable. But it is not a disposition we ought to maintain for long. For others have needs, and even in our grief and with our limitations we are still called to reach out to others. And that very reaching out often provides our own healing as well.

Just because we have needs does not mean that others stop having them. Jesus shows the courage and the love to still recognize the needs of others even in his own grief. So He goes ashore and shares love with others.

II. THE ISSUE THAT IS EVADED – The text says, When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.”

There is a human tendency to want needy people to go away, to disappear. The apostles, noticing the needy crowd (a crowd about to have a hunger problem), want it to go away before there is a problem.

We too, both individually and collectively, often desire the needy and poor to just disappear. If we see a beggar we may cross to the other side of the street or refuse to look at him. If our caller ID indicates a troubled family member is calling, one who might ask for money or want to talk for a long time, we may let the call go to voice mail rather than answering. In society we tend to segregate the poor and needy. The “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) syndrome seeks to confine the poor, the mentally handicapped, and others to certain marginal sections of the city largely out of sight and out of mind. The sick and the dying, too, are often relegated to nursing homes. Perhaps this is necessary for proper care, but the thought of an elderly relative living and dying in our own homes is too much for many, even when it is possible. So generally people go away to die.

Notice the threefold basis of the disciples’ evasion:

1. They are DESPAIRING – for they say, this is a deserted place and it is already late.
2. They are DISMISSIVE –  for they want Jesus to dismiss the crowd, to send them away.
3. They are DETACHED – for instead of wanting to help, they want the crowd to go away and get food for themselves.

Yes, it is a sad human tendency to want to be rid of people who have problems. And so the disciples beg Jesus to send the increasingly troublesome crowd away. The issue is evaded rather than accepted as a shared problem to be solved together.

III. THE INSTRUCTION THAT ENSUES – Jesus said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.”

Uh oh, this is starting to get personal! Jesus is not willing to keep this merely as a problem that “they” have; He wants me to do something!

Yes, He rejects their premise by saying there is no need for them to go away. And He redirects their plan by saying, give them something to eat yourselves.

Refusing to accept the presence of the poor and needy is simply not a viable option for Jesus, nor is it for us who would be His disciples. Jesus wants and expects us to get started with a solution, a solution that includes both “them” and us. It looks like we are our brother’s keeper.

This is the instruction that ensues when the apostles, or we, try to evade the issue.

IV. THE INSUFFICIENCY THAT IS EXPRESSED – The text says, But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.”

But we can’t possibly pull this thing off; their needs are far too great! The Lord is not interested in our excuses; He just says, “Let’s get started.”

Observe two things about the five loaves and two fish:

1. First, as John’s Gospel (6:9) notes, the loaves and fish came from among the poor themselves. Hence this is not mere “do-good-ism.” The teaching here is not to be a “limousine liberal” who rolls down the window, throws money to the poor, an then goes back to his mansion. Neither is it a “We’re from the government and we’re here to help you” sort of solution. For we should not do for others what they can reasonably do for themselves. Rather we ought to work with the poor, engaging them in what they do have, in the talents and leadership they do possess, and solve problems with them rather than for them. There are loaves and fish even among the poor; there are talents and resources to be included in the solution.
2. Second, regardless of where the loaves and fish come from, they are not nothing, and the Lord expects all of us to be part of the solution. Simply telling God (or these days the government) to go do something about the problem is not a full or authentic Christian response.

Hence our complaints about meager resources do not impress the Lord, who says, simply, Bring them here to me. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. And thus we go to the principal point.

V.  THE IMMENSITY THAT IS EXPERIENCED – The text says, Then he said, “Bring them here to me, ” and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.  Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.  They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over—twelve wicker baskets full.  Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.

Now this story is so familiar that you and I are not surprised by the outcome. But no matter how many times we hear it, we still do not really accept its astonishing truth:

1. I can do all things in God who strengthens me (Phil 4:13).
2. All things are possible to him who believes (Mk 9:23).
3. For man it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God (Mk 10:27).
4. Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness (2 Cor 9:10).

Now take special note of that last quote, for this Gospel is about more than caring for the poor (although it is about that). This Gospel is also about taking this world back for Christ.

We all know that this world is in an increasingly bad state: rampant secularism, moral relativism, a Church with many self-inflicted wounds.  All of this has led to the real mess we have on our hands today. And the problems are overwhelming: sexual confusion, the culture of death, the breakdown of marriage, compulsive sin, compulsive overspending, greed, insensitivity to the poor, deep and widespread addiction to pornography, drugs, alcohol abuse, abortion, widespread promiscuity, adultery, corruption, cynicism, low mass attendance, and on and on.

The problems seem overwhelming and our resources seem so limited to turn back the tide. What will we ever do with only five loaves and two fish?

Jesus says, Bring them here to me.

Yet again, the journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step. The conversion of the whole world begins with me. As I look at the huge problems before me, I (and this means you, too) assess my loaves and fish:

1. I work on my own conversion. For a holier world has to start with me. If I get holier, the world gets holier.
2. I look to the poor I can serve; maybe with money, maybe with talents like tutoring and counseling, maybe just with my time by listening.
3. I pick up the phone and call a family member I know is hurting.
4. I love my spouse and children.
5. I spend the time to raise my own children properly—to know the Lord and seek His kingdom.
6. I exhort the weak in my own family. And, with love, I rebuke sin and encourage righteousness.
7. If I am a priest or religious, I live my vocation faithfully and heroically call others to Christ by teaching and proclaiming the Gospel without compromise.
8. If I am a young person, I seek to prepare myself devoutly for a vocation to marriage or the priesthood or religious life.
9. If I am older, I seek to manifest wisdom and a good example to the young.
10. If I am elderly, I seek to prepare myself for death devoutly and to be a good example in this. I witness to the desire for Heaven.
11. I pray for this world and attend mass faithfully, begging God’s mercy on this sin-soaked world.

It is too easy to simply lament this world’s condition and, like the apostles, feel overwhelmed. Jesus just says, bring me what you have, and let’s get started. The conversion of the whole world will begin with me, with my meager loaves and fish.

And Jesus will surely multiply them; he will not fail. Already there is renewal evident in the Church through a faithful core willing to bring their loaves and fish: some of the things mentioned above and more besides. They are bringing them to Jesus and He is multiplying them. Renewal is happening and signs of spring are evident in the Church.

There is a saying that it is easier to wear slippers than to carpet the whole world. Indeed it is. If it is to be a converted world you want start with yourself. Bring your loaves and fish to Jesus, bring your slippers, and let’s get started.  It begins with me.

This song says,

If I can help somebody, as I pass along,
If I can cheer somebody, with a word or song,
If I can show somebody, how they’re traveling wrong,
Then my living shall not be in vain.

If I can do my duty, as a good man ought,
If I can bring back beauty, to a world up wrought,
If I can spread love’s message, as the Master taught,
Then my living shall not be in vain.