Homily for 6 Dec 2017

6 Dec 2017

Jesus “broke the loaves, gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds.”  This is in contrast to what we heard just a few lines earlier: “Great crowds came to Jesus; they placed [the sick] at his feet, and he cured them.”  Sometimes Jesus works directly.  And other times he works indirectly, through others.

And this is important to remember because, as much as we pray to the Lord for this or that, our prayers may be answered through somebody other than Jesus.

When someone is going into surgery, we pray that the Lord himself will be present.  But we also pray that he guide the hands of the surgeons, doctors, and nurses.  If we find ourselves needing comfort, we pray to the Lord himself.  But he may send comfort in the form of a friend, or even a stranger.  And he seems to do this because he wants people to be involved in their own redemption. 

It’s like a parent who wants his or her child to succeed.  It’s actually detrimental if the parent does everything for the kid; the child has to be involved if he or she is going to succeed.  Eventually the “training wheels have to come off.”

So, in this season of hope, we look to the Lord, we turn to him.  But we also look to our neighbors, who might unknowingly be messengers and helpers of the Lord.  Either way, the good news is that “Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  He refreshes my soul.”