Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
This is Sundays with Bishop Ken.
Thanks for sharing some quiet time with the Lord.
Today we welcome guest reader Brenda Piazza. Brenda is a parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Mendon, New York, where she joyfully serves in a variety of ministries.
Brenda also shares her gifts with us each liturgical season, narrating our little book's reflections.
And now, here is today's gospel and homily,
[00:00:46] Speaker B: A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.
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.
When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, this is a deserted place and it is already late.
Dismiss the crowds so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.
Jesus said to them, there is no need for them to go away.
Give them some food yourselves.
But they said to him, five loaves and two fish are all we have here.
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, 12 wicker baskets full.
Those who ate were about 5,000 men, not counting women and children.
The Gospel of the Lord.
The convergence of these readings set me thinking about the play. Oliver.
I'm no expert on plays, but I listened to the music of this one.
Oliver is the story of an orphan in old England, back when orphans were not always well treated.
This young boy was one of those lost youngsters.
He had been thrown out of an orphanage because, among other things, he asked for more food.
Then he got a job in a workhouse. But he was treated cruelly and fired.
Now, with no money and no place to live, he's out on the street and he sits on a doorstep and sings.
Where is love?
Some of the lyrics of the song go like this.
Where is love? Does it fall from the skies above?
Is it underneath the willow tree that I've been dreaming of?
Will I ever know the sweet hello that's meant for only me?
Every night I kneel and pray Let tomorrow be the day When I see the face of someone who I can mean something to.
Oliver is not talking about romantic love.
He just plain wants to Be loved.
To mean something to someone.
That's the hunger in all of us, whether we're old or young, married, single, widowed, divorced, a priest, a religious.
Down inside of us, there's something unfinished, incomplete.
There's a gap in all of us, a hunger to be loved.
It's the deepest hunger of all.
And every other hunger is an expression of that one.
A lot of the world is singing, where is love?
Jesus says, where is love?
Right here.
As the Father loves me, so do I love you.
Come to me. All you who are weary and find life burdensome, come to me.
All three readings today come together in a wonderful response to that hunger.
God speaks through the prophet Isaiah, inviting everyone to come to God's sumptuous banquet at no cost.
He says, 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.
Paul reminds us, nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.
He's not talking about our love for Christ, he's talking about Christ's love for us.
Paul says, I am convinced that neither death, nor life, 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.
Then in the Gospel, Jesus, who's trying to get away with his disciples for a little quiet time, gets out of the boat, sees a large crowd, and his heart goes out to them.
He cures the sick and he feeds them, providing more loaves and fishes than they could eat.
This is one of those beautiful truths we bask in, we enjoy.
Imagine God loving us. So there's another song in Oliver.
He ends up on the streets of London, still with no place to stay and no food to eat.
A group of young people takes him in and shares their food and lodging.
They're down and out, just like he is, and unfortunately, they're petty thieves.
That's how they survive.
They welcome him with a song most everyone has heard this one part of which goes like this.
Consider yourself at home Consider yourself one of the family We've taken to you so strong it's clear we're going to get along Consider yourself well in Consider yourself part of the furniture There isn't a lot to spare who cares? Whatever we've got, we share.
This one metaphorically applies to us, the Church.
It fits because we're sinners.
Far from perfect.
It also fits because this is what we are meant to be. For all people, the body of Christ extending his love and mercy. To everyone.
The Vatican II Constitution on the Church in the Modern World begins like this.
The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted.
These two are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.
In the Gospel, the disciples want to send the crowd away so they can take care of themselves.
Jesus says, no, let them stay.
We'll take care of them.
We the church are at our best when we do that, and we can succeed only if we first realize the Lord speaks those same words to us.
You ask, where is love?
Right here.
So let's enjoy the truth of God's love for us, and let's be sure we extend that love all round.
There's plenty to share.
[00:08:35] Speaker A: Thanks for joining us today.
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