This weekend we celebrated the Feast of the most sacred body and blood of Christ. This is when we honor the Eucharist and a very unique way through our celebration of mass. It's really nothing terribly exciting because Mass has become so ordinary for most of us. The thing I appreciate most about this Feast is one line in the Gospel reading.
When the Crowds amass and there are 5,000 people to feed, the apostles go to Jesus and they say "what are we going to do?"Jesus kind of a snidely says to them "do-it-yourself."
Now I look at this two ways. The first, Jesus was telling them they had the ability to feed the 5000 without his assistance. The second, Jesus was testing their faith in what he is trusting them to do with the church.
Both of these perspectives give us an interesting challenge as Apostles of today. Do we believe that we can do this work ourselves? Do we have faith that Jesus has given us the tools necessary to achieve such feats?
Obviously, we're not expected to multiply Loaves and fish. That is a miracle that only the good Lord can do on such short order. But we can bind together to feed thousands of people. This happens all the time. One of my favorite charitable organizations is Feed My Starving Children, where a group of a few dozen volunteers can make enough food to feed thousands of people and just a few hours time. That's pretty miraculous for human hands!
The other thing that this Feast always brings to my mind is the miracle of our own consumptions. Have you ever given thought to the idea that while Jesus could multiply Loaves and fish to feed 5,000 people, you can chew lettuce and chicken and turn that into muscle and bone? That the 70 trillion cells in your body can pull off pretty miraculous things when given the right tools.
When I hear Jesus say, "do it yourself," I think he's challenging us to find the spirit within and bring out our best. This isn't beyond anyone! It is simply that we must be willing and open to the idea that we are capable of achieving Miracles every day. They might be small, or they might seem ordinary, but they are just as important. As the living body of Christ which is the church, we have the ability to do great things in Jesus name!
So let's not fail this test that Jesus puts before us. I would assert that we are very capable of meeting any challenge.
Peace,
-Matt