Someone in that crowd Jesus fed with the five barley loaves and the two fish asked him ‘what must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered ‘believe in the one God has sent.’ Our first challenge is to believe that Jesus is the Christ, our savior who by his passion, death and resurrection has reconciled us with God and made us sons and daughters of God. According to Jesus, what truly pleases God is to “believe in him whom God has sent” (Jn 6:29). This is not simply intellectual assent, but authentic commitment, loyalty, and solidarity. We are to stick with Jesus no matter what!
People are to see the way we live
What must we do to perform the works of God? Perform the very works Jesus did. Show that our faith in God means something by the way we live our own lives. Jesus accepted everyone who came into his life as a person of importance; be they an outcast leper, a grieving mother or widow, be they struck with blindness or a crippling disease, be they a crooked tax collector or a crucified criminal.
Jesus condemned the injustices he saw in his own society, the exploitation of the working poor, usury, unjust taxes. We do the works of God when we speak out against the draw backs of the social assistance so needed by families trying to feed their families, pay their rent.
We do the works of God when we respond to men and women, members of our own families, friends and fellow-workers who may be burdened by financial worries, emotional or mental problems, good people facing the limitations of old age, when we echo the words of Jesus, ‘come to me all you who find life burdensome and I will refresh you, I will listen, I will support you as best I can.
Jesus nourished, fed the vast crowd by challenging them to share with those around them the little he had, five barley loaves and two fish, to do the same and all were fed.
May be gifted with the generosity we need to share with family, friends and strangers our patience, our time, our support, our willingness to listen to the frights and fears, the hopes and dreams of all those who come into our lives every day of life. God give us all the generosity to do the works of God.
This Homily entry was posted on Sunday, August 5th, 2018.
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