Jeremiah 28:1-17; Matthew 14:13-21
The Visible reveals the Invisible: Jesus as God in the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish
Yesterday, we were told that “vanity of vanity, all is vanity.” Seriously? Is creation to no purpose and plan? We showed that God gives meaning to creation, provided that heaven and the immortality of the human soul are our preoccupations on earth. The major theme of yesterday, “God gives meaning to creation,” continues all through the week. Today, we are invited to reflect on how God reveals himself to us through created things, especially food.
The origin of the dispute between the prophets Hananiah and Jeremiah stems from how to read disaster, when it occurs to a believer. The deportation to Babylon, of God’s own people, was unjustifiable, this is the insinuation of Hananiah. Consequently, he prophesies today about the imminent return from Babylon. As a matter of fact, the name “Hananiah” means “God is gracious.” Hananiah could not square with a God who chastises his own people, since he is a gracious God. With a gracious God, all is “grace,” all is free gift; “success” defines the nature of God. But Jeremiah, a name which means “God raises up,” focuses on “fidelity” to God rather than success. If Judah was exiled to Babylon, it was because they sinned and are being purified through punishment.
Oops, do not be disappointed that even prophets disagree! There is a lesson to be learned, focus on the lesson. In this life, the good and the bad live together, like the two lumps of the buttocks, it is the friction between them, the two halves, that makes motion and movement possible. The presence of false prophets reveals that of the true prophet. Also, it is the accomplishment of a prophet’s predictions that testifies to their veracity. Prophet Hananiah died for telling lies in God’s name!
The two prophets, we read about in our first reading, reveal our approaches to God. Hananiah separates God’s grace or mercy from God’s justice. People like him in our society today are the progressives who set up their agenda and impose them upon God and claim God is good all the times. On the other side of the spectrum is Jeremiah. People like him are those who keep faithfully God’s commandments, through stormy days, and wait for God to exalt or lift them up. While Hananiah emphasizes “success” as God’s trademark, Jeremiah stresses “fidelity” as God’s hallmark. Of course, Jeremiah was right, not Hananiah, because God took Hananiah out. Unfortunately, “prosperity” gospel preachers are ubiquitous today, and their voices drown those who call human beings to “fidelity” to the God!
The fundamental lesson of today is that even in a disaster, God reveals his presence. It was only after the Babylonian captivity that Israel became cosmopolitan, they accepted other people as children of God as well! Non-Jews help in the rebuilding of Jerusalem. How true the saying, “every cloud has a silver lining.” Our gospel today takes this a step further, the absence of food occasions the revelation of God’s presence. The mundane reveals the spiritual.
Every miracle, in the synoptic gospel, is a theophany – a manifestation of God. The disciples and the hungry crowds of today were oblivious of the presence of God among them. One thing that was very real to them was hunger. Jesus’ disciples anticipated hunger, they had five loves and two fish ready. God had other plans, because on this earth, while some are drinking and getting drunk and eating and becoming obese, others are starving and dying.
Material poverty is real and we should fight against it, but that is not the focus of today. The focus is whether you and I can recognize God either in our poverty or riches. Everyone feels hungry, whether rich or poor. Physical hunger should lead to spiritual hunger. The multiplication of five loaves and two fish for all to eat draws attention to a God who can make plenty out of a little or few.
The disciples’ advise to Jesus to send the crowd away to go buy some food for themselves betrays lack of recognition of the presence of God among them. This blindness happens to us when disaster strikes, we question if God is with us, whether he is still alive or dead. For God, every disaster is a prelude to a miracle or the manifestation of God’s power. In other words, without God, nothing makes sense. So, it is not the visible that matters, but the invisible which makes the visible possible in the first place. The visible is the sacrament or sign of the invisible. Physical hunger should lead to spiritual hunger. Our daily bread/food should lead us to daily Eucharist!
St. Alphonsus Liguori, whose memorial we celebrate today, shows that material wealth and grandiose education and job do not assuage spiritual quests. He abandoned a lucrative and enviable legal carrier to embrace the proclamation of the good news as a job. Of course, this is possible for Alphonsus because God provided meaning for his life; a meaning which full-stomach and wealth couldn’t provide. Can you do what he did?
May God bless you!
Very gud. Love and prayers.
You’re welcome!