Pastor's Spiritual Reflections

By Fr. Leo Schneider (8/3/2008)

Dear People of Holy Name,

Our Sunday liturgy has two main parts. First is the Liturgy of the Word for which we gather as one in our Gathering Song. The opening rites prepare us to listen to God’s word in recalling God’s great mercy and love for each of us. The Liturgy of the Word consists of two readings, a Psalm Response and a Gospel. A homily and Prayers of Petition follow the Gospel.

The second main part of our liturgy, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, begins with the gathering and presenting of the gifts. In the Eucharistic prayer we take bread, bless it, then break it in the Lamb of God, then distribute it to those present. After communion, a closing prayer and blessing sends us fourth to be Christ in the world.

This same pattern of taking bread, blessing it, breaking it, and distributing it is what we see in today’s gospel. Jesus feeds the 5000 in their physical hunger by providing for all, with enough left over to fill 12 baskets, symbolic of the 12 tribes of Israel; the whole world.

Interpreting today’s gospel in a literal sense as a miracle story, or demythologizing it to understand it as a story of miraculous sharing among God’s people, leads to the same conclusion for us as we celebrate the liturgy today. As we gather we take bread, the offering of ourselves, we bless it, break it and distribute it to everyone in the house.

In our Eucharist the Lord feeds us. Our needs are met through the community gathered in the love of Christ. So too, the needs of others are met through our own selfsacrifice and giving of ourselves to others. Our faith draws us into community, to be in communion with all of God’s creation as the Eucharist reminds us that we are all one bread, one body.

What we do on Sunday is counter-cultural in many ways. First, we celebrate what can come out of self-giving and sacrifice. Just as Jesus’ self-sacrifice becomes our gift of new life and the promise of life eternal, so our sacrificing for others builds a community of love where there is enough left over for everyone. In our capitalistic culture, where it is every person for him or her self, what we do is quite the opposite.

What we celebrate is more communal in nature, more socialist. In our culture it is the non-profit organizations who work to take the unfair edge off of our individualistic culture, by helping those who fall through the cracks and find themselves marginalized. Risen Christ School is a wonderful example of how we are reaching out to help those who simply would not have the opportunities we have had such as receiving an education on which to build a life for ourselves.

Living our faith in today’s world will always find us trying to balance our needs with the needs of others. When others are selfish, we will in turn be selfish to protect ourselves. When others are generous, we will find it easier to help others, as we trust those around us to help us as we help others. To partake at the table of the Eucharist is to choose to be a leader in giving-of-self, so that there may be a community of people sharing their hopes and dreams and helping each other realize those goals and dreams.

There is a real presence in the Eucharist. Christ is among us to inspire us and gift us with his Spirit, that we may live in him and he in us. In the Eucharist, we unite ourselves with him and he with us. Let us pray that we may be filled with his Spirit and that we may find our joy in giving to others as he has given to us. May God so bless each of us.

In Christ’s peace, Fr. Leo