10 Pentecost
cycle b proper 12 July 29, 2018
Caroline: Today, a large multitude of people are being fed garlic products in the Gilroy garlic festival. Some of our friends are working at this garlic festival at booths for their organizations.
Catherine: We are not here to eat garlic though we can smell it in the air.
Caroline: Jesus fed the multitude with bread and fish and the multitude who were crowded together for this great picnic are probably glad that garlic was not served. Can you imagine the garlic smog breath in such a large crowd?
Catherine: Since it is youth Sunday, I would like to suggest to you that the Gospel story that we have read is about the youth and the youth contribution to the church, the family, schools and many other places.
Caroline: You mean by being experts in texting, gaming and downloading itunes?
Catherine: No, I mean that when we do something, it can be discounted as something small but something small can really start something big.
Caroline: Like what?
Catherine: It is what is called the domino effect. You know when you line up dominoes and when you push the first domino, it begins a chain reaction and soon, one by one, all the dominoes fall. And it is spectacular to watch.
Caroline: But what is the domino effect in our Gospel story?
Catherine: Well, I believe that a little boy and his lunch started everything happening.
Caroline: How so?
Catherine: Jesus saw the crowd and wanted to feed them since they had come out into the wilderness and so he presented the problem to his disciples.
Caroline: The disciples surveyed the situation and said, "We can't feed this large crowd. We took an inventory and the only food we have is the lunch that has been offered by a young man."
Catherine: And what did Jesus say? “That's enough.” And then he made the miracle happen.
Caroline: It is kind of like the parish picnic and the parish brunch. We look at the list of people who signed up to bring food and it's only a few people. But when we arrive at the picnic and the brunch we find tons of food and more than enough to eat.
Catherine: It is like the little boy primed the generosity pump. When he gave his lunch that his mom had packed for him, he became the example for everyone.
Caroline: How so?
Catherine: Well this is what I imagined happened. I imagine Jesus knew about the crowd. He knew that the all of the crowd was not without food. He knew that many people were just like the little boy; they had packed a lunch for themselves, but they kept it hidden.
Caroline: He also knew about kosher laws. He knew that people would not share food or eating together if they did not know how the food was prepared. This is why everyone kept food for themselves.
Catherine: The little boy was not concerned about kosher rules; he was ready to share his food with others.
Caroline: So, I can imagine Jesus taking the food given by the little boy. And he told all the people to close their eyes because he was going to offer a prayer and blessing. He raised the boy's lunch up and said, "I thank you Father for the kind heart of this young boy. He did not just think about his own hunger; he was willing to share all of his lunch with everyone. Let this be an example to us. And now Father, when I open my eyes, I would like to see how much food we have for everyone. Amen."
Catherine: And so what happened when his prayer was finished?
Caroline: When he finished praying, he opened his eyes and suddenly out of those large cloaks with big hidden pockets and from bags that had been carried, there suddenly appeared lots and lots of food. And there was enough for everyone to eat and even left overs to gather to hand out to the hungry on the way home.
Catherine: And the little boy started it all. How?
Caroline: He simply offered his lunch. He shared a little and the result was abundance. His example of sharing inspired the entire crowd.
Catherine: And this is an important lesson.
Caroline: What's that?
Catherine: It is a stewardship lesson. When we share a little and invite others to share, we can gather an abundance for our own needs and also have plenty left over to help those in need.
Caroline: The church works in the same way. We need people to start the domino effect. It can be young people or older people; anyone with generosity can start the domino effect and see abundance happen.
Catherine: We are young, and we offer our time and talent to the parish and we hope that it will inspire you to offer your time, talent and treasure to our parish for our mission to proclaim and live the Gospel here in Morgan Hill.
Caroline: If we hide and hoard, then abundance cannot happen. Remember the small giving of the young boy started the experience of abundance for all.
Catherine: At St. John's, we need the generosity of lots of people to become the abundance to sustain our community and also help those in our community who have greater needs than we do.
Caroline: So, just as the little boy who shared his lunch began the work of Christ to make abundance happen, let each of us ask what we need to do to make abundance happen in our parish and for the needs people of our world.
Catherine: The little boys first thought was to share his lunch with all. And Jesus blessed his sharing with abundance.
Caroline: Let our first thought be sharing our gifts with all too. And Jesus will bless our sharing with abundance too. Amen.
Ephesians 3:14-21
John 6:1-21
Catherine: Today we have read about
the feeding of a large crowd by Jesus in the wilderness.
Caroline: Today, a large multitude of people are being fed garlic products in the Gilroy garlic festival. Some of our friends are working at this garlic festival at booths for their organizations.
Catherine: We are not here to eat garlic though we can smell it in the air.
Caroline: Jesus fed the multitude with bread and fish and the multitude who were crowded together for this great picnic are probably glad that garlic was not served. Can you imagine the garlic smog breath in such a large crowd?
Catherine: Since it is youth Sunday, I would like to suggest to you that the Gospel story that we have read is about the youth and the youth contribution to the church, the family, schools and many other places.
Caroline: You mean by being experts in texting, gaming and downloading itunes?
Catherine: No, I mean that when we do something, it can be discounted as something small but something small can really start something big.
Caroline: Like what?
Catherine: It is what is called the domino effect. You know when you line up dominoes and when you push the first domino, it begins a chain reaction and soon, one by one, all the dominoes fall. And it is spectacular to watch.
Caroline: But what is the domino effect in our Gospel story?
Catherine: Well, I believe that a little boy and his lunch started everything happening.
Caroline: How so?
Catherine: Jesus saw the crowd and wanted to feed them since they had come out into the wilderness and so he presented the problem to his disciples.
Caroline: The disciples surveyed the situation and said, "We can't feed this large crowd. We took an inventory and the only food we have is the lunch that has been offered by a young man."
Catherine: And what did Jesus say? “That's enough.” And then he made the miracle happen.
Caroline: It is kind of like the parish picnic and the parish brunch. We look at the list of people who signed up to bring food and it's only a few people. But when we arrive at the picnic and the brunch we find tons of food and more than enough to eat.
Catherine: It is like the little boy primed the generosity pump. When he gave his lunch that his mom had packed for him, he became the example for everyone.
Caroline: How so?
Catherine: Well this is what I imagined happened. I imagine Jesus knew about the crowd. He knew that the all of the crowd was not without food. He knew that many people were just like the little boy; they had packed a lunch for themselves, but they kept it hidden.
Caroline: He also knew about kosher laws. He knew that people would not share food or eating together if they did not know how the food was prepared. This is why everyone kept food for themselves.
Catherine: The little boy was not concerned about kosher rules; he was ready to share his food with others.
Caroline: So, I can imagine Jesus taking the food given by the little boy. And he told all the people to close their eyes because he was going to offer a prayer and blessing. He raised the boy's lunch up and said, "I thank you Father for the kind heart of this young boy. He did not just think about his own hunger; he was willing to share all of his lunch with everyone. Let this be an example to us. And now Father, when I open my eyes, I would like to see how much food we have for everyone. Amen."
Catherine: And so what happened when his prayer was finished?
Caroline: When he finished praying, he opened his eyes and suddenly out of those large cloaks with big hidden pockets and from bags that had been carried, there suddenly appeared lots and lots of food. And there was enough for everyone to eat and even left overs to gather to hand out to the hungry on the way home.
Catherine: And the little boy started it all. How?
Caroline: He simply offered his lunch. He shared a little and the result was abundance. His example of sharing inspired the entire crowd.
Catherine: And this is an important lesson.
Caroline: What's that?
Catherine: It is a stewardship lesson. When we share a little and invite others to share, we can gather an abundance for our own needs and also have plenty left over to help those in need.
Caroline: The church works in the same way. We need people to start the domino effect. It can be young people or older people; anyone with generosity can start the domino effect and see abundance happen.
Catherine: We are young, and we offer our time and talent to the parish and we hope that it will inspire you to offer your time, talent and treasure to our parish for our mission to proclaim and live the Gospel here in Morgan Hill.
Caroline: If we hide and hoard, then abundance cannot happen. Remember the small giving of the young boy started the experience of abundance for all.
Catherine: At St. John's, we need the generosity of lots of people to become the abundance to sustain our community and also help those in our community who have greater needs than we do.
Caroline: So, just as the little boy who shared his lunch began the work of Christ to make abundance happen, let each of us ask what we need to do to make abundance happen in our parish and for the needs people of our world.
Catherine: The little boys first thought was to share his lunch with all. And Jesus blessed his sharing with abundance.
Caroline: Let our first thought be sharing our gifts with all too. And Jesus will bless our sharing with abundance too. Amen.
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