Homily on the 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time
There is a song I heard a few years ago that I really liked and I listen to it when I wonder if God even remembers that we are here. It is called the “Goodness of God.” The song sings of God’s faithfulness, mercy and how God sustains us no matter what. In it, we are told that God’s goodness is not passive; it is “running after us.” The love of God is not earned or won. In fact, our God pursues us with a passionate love.
He hold nothing back….he gives us the water of fortitude to endure what ever trials come our way. God is faithful to us; even when we are not faithful to him. We are fed, not with just a meal that perishes, but with the bread of heaven. We are sustained with the living presence of Jesus that we find in the Eucharist. No money, no gold, no jewels can buy the love and faithfulness of God. It is a free gift that is offered freely. Even when we sin, choose to not believe, or become lukewarm in our faith, nothing separates us from God but ourselves. People wonder how to come back to church or how to grow in the faith. It is simple and hard. The simplicity is to acknowledge the faithful love of God that forgives. It is hard because it means we let go of our control and give ourselves over to God. The reality is that each of us everyday needs to surrender ourselves to God’s love every day. When we do this, no matter what happens, we will know the immense power of God.
There is only one thing that God will ask us for, and we find the answer in the Gospel. Jesus does two things that we can miss. He tells the disciples when he asked them about feeding the crowd and they wanted to send them away: Give them some food yourselves.” Then, we when read a couple of lines later, notice that Jesus fed the disciples and then they fed the crowds. So, once we know the eternal goodness of God in our hearts, then we must give it away and feed the world around us. To selfishly hoard God’s love and goodness only for ourselves is not how God treats us or how we are treat each other and the world. No one in the crowd was asked to give proof that they were worth the food, had the right documents, had enough money, or even if they believed in Jesus. They were just fed. This is the mandate of the Gospel and for us.
So, let us spend a few moments in prayer and asked God to show us how good he has been to us this past week. Let us pray for the grace then, when we leave here, to feed the world with the food of that goodness and love.
NB. Listen to CeCe Winans rendition of the “Goodness of God”
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