Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] Speaker A: This is Sundays with Bishop Ken.
Thanks for sharing some quiet time with the Lord.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Today. Our guest reader is Fr. Burt Gome, a senior priest from the diocese of Saginaw in Michigan. Father Burt was a priest in the diocese when Bishop Ken was its shepherdess.
[00:00:33] Speaker C: A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John Jesus went across the sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.
Jesus went up on the mountain and there he sat down with his disciples.
The jewish feast of Passover was near.
When jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him. He said to Philip, where can we buy enough food for them to eat?
He said this to test him because he himself knew what he was going to do.
Philip answered him, 200 days wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.
One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, there is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.
But what good are these for so many?
Jesus said, have the people recline now. There was a great deal of grass in that place so the men reclined about 5000 in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks and distributed them to those who were reclining and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill he said to his disciples, gather the fragments left over so that nothing will be wasted.
So they collected them and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the signs he had done they said, this is truly the prophet, the one who is to come into the world.
Since jesus knew they were going to come and carry him off to make him king he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
The gospel of the Lord.
This event, usually referred to as the multiplication of the loaves of is one of the best known events in the life of Jesus.
It's the only miracle that is described in all four gospels.
In Mark's Gospel and Matthew's, this story is told twice.
The event is packed with meaning and much of it obviously refers to the Eucharist today. I want to look at it from a slightly different angle in each of the six accounts of this event. When Jesus tells the disciples that they should feed the crowd they say that it's hopeless, impossible.
Here is a sample of their responses.
Five loaves and two fish are all we have from Matthew 1417.
Where can anyone get enough bread here in this deserted place?
From mark eight four, there is a boy here, who has five barley loaves and two fish? But what good are these for so many from John six nine?
You know how the story ends. You know, the disciples were wrong.
It wasn't hopeless. It wasn't impossible.
They do end up feeding this great crowd.
The problem with their first response to Jesus was that they failed to go beyond the limitations of their own expectations.
I wonder if you and I confine ourselves to a horizon that is too narrow to the limitations of our own expectations.
I'm not thinking about expecting to win the lottery or get a big promotion.
I'm talking about expectations to be better people, to do good works, to help make God's world a better place.
I'm talking about things like what happened in this gospel, feeding the hungry.
It may be that our expectations of ourselves are too limited.
We may confine ourselves to limited potential of feeding the hungry of our world, eliminating war, overcoming prejudice and racism, helping women and minorities achieve equality, and most of all, having a part in making any of this happen.
Let's go back to the disciples in the feeding of the multitudes, their fundamental mistake was that they didn't include God in the equation.
Remember the time Jesus said, I am the vine, you are the branches.
Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me, you can do nothing.
If we take that seriously, we realize what a mistake it is to leave God out of the equation.
For centuries, alcoholism seemed to be a hopeless curse.
Most victims felt as helpless as the disciples felt in the face of that hungry crowd.
In 1934, a fellow named Bill Wilson, a hopeless alcoholic, lay alone in a New York hospital room. Despondent, he begged God for help.
This is what he describes next.
Suddenly, my room blazed with an indescribable white light.
Then came the blazing thought, you are a free man.
From that day on, Bill Wilson never doubted the existence of God, and he never took another drink.
He founded Alcoholics Anonymous, which is based entirely on putting God in the equation.
The fundamental principle is let go.
Let God.
When it comes to being a better person, when it comes to healing some relationships, when it comes to doing better at our job, our diet, our marriage, raising our children, when it comes to helping to make our city a better place, our parish a better parish, when it comes to caring for the poor, helping to build a peaceful world, if we put God in the equation, we can go way beyond the limitations of human expectations.
The truth is, God is already in the equation, because God sent his only son into the world to bring peace, justice, wholeness, and the Lord has poured the Holy Spirit upon us to share in that work.
I close with one more thought.
It can happen that others don't expect much of us. It can happen that instead of living up to high expectations, we end up living down to low expectations.
Scottie Bowman coached the Red Wings to three Stanley Cups and is recognized as the best coach ever in the NHL.
I always wondered what he said in the dressing room between periods, especially if it was a big game and the Wings were down by a goal or two.
Did he rant and rave? Did he give a pep talk?
I had a chance a short while back to ask one of the Red Wings about that. What he told me was interesting. He said between periods it was all business, no rah rah stuff.
Scotty would talk about our strategy and he would make adjustments and lay out the plans for the next period. That was it.
But sometimes after he finished and we were talking among ourselves, he might come over to one of us and say, not in a loud voice, I expect a little more out of you this next period.
Let me tell you when he said that, first of all, you knew he had confidence in you and thought that you had it in you to lift the whole team to a new level.
Second, you realized that you could rise to a higher level and you could go out there for the next period and play the best hockey you ever played in your life.
I dont mean to compare Scottie Bowman to God, but theres a lesson here.
We can call one another to higher expectations.
We can even call ourselves to higher expectations.
But thats not all. What if the Lord said to me, I expect a little more out of you?
Wed be honored to think that the Lord had that kind of confidence in us.
What's more, the Lord would add one more phrase, he'd say, and I'll be with you to help you do it.
That's what Scotty Bowman couldn't do.
He couldn't go out on the ice and help a player do better.
But the Lord said, I am the vine, you are the branches. And he meant it.
Try that later today.
It's not make believe, it's prayer.
Hear the Lord speak your name and then say, I expect a little more out of you and I'll help you do it.
You talk about prayer. That makes a difference.
Try it.
I'm going to try it this week.
I think it will be one of the best prayers you and I ever said.
[00:10:31] Speaker A: Thanks for joining us today. If you like this week's reflection, subscribe.
[00:10:36] Speaker B: On your favorite podcast platform for daily reflections during the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter, subscribe to the Little Books app found on the Apple or Google Play Stores. The podcast is brought to you free of charge from Little Books. To help support our ministry, please consider donating by clicking on the Donate button now. And of course, why not tell a friend about this podcast?
[00:11:03] Speaker A: Sundays with Bishop Ken is produced by Little Books of the Diocese of Saginaw. For more about little books and great resources for the whole family, visit littlebooks.org dot.
