"PARTY - PARTY"

EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Is.55:1-3, Ps.145, Rom.8:35,37-39, Mt.14:13-21

We always like to “party–party”. Once we achieve something in life, it always calls for a celebration. No matter how small or big the achievement is, a “party–party” should happen! Small things like: nakuha lang ang cellphone number ng crush, nagpa–McDo kaagad or In-approve lang ni crush as Friend sa Facebook, nagpa–burger na kaagad. Big things like: Naka-graduate ang anak sa college, pumasa sa Bar exams si bunso, and many others.

However, there is something tragic with our “party–party” nowadays. Sometimes, our celebration and banquets end up in tragedy! Nakainom lang ng dalawang bote ng pulang kabayo, naninipa na ang tahimik na Juan dela Cruz. Nagsimula sa inuman at nagtapos sa kulungan dahil sa barilan. If you’ve noticed, sometimes, after our “party–party” nagiging baon na tayo sa utang kasi ang dami nang babayaran. Parang sinasabihan tayo na, “Enjoy now, suffer later!”

In our Gospel today, we heard of two “party– parties.” Right at the start of our narrative today, we hear Jesus withdrawing to a deserted place after knowing about the death of John the Baptist. If you remember, John’s death happened during a banquet. In this first “party–party”, at the banquet of Herod, there is pride and arrogance, greed and murder in the royal court. It first started as a celebration of life for Herod and ended up with the death of John the Baptist.

However, there is another “party–party” in our Gospel today. This time it was Jesus who was the organizer. At Jesus’ banquet, there is healing for when He saw the crowd, He took pity on them and healed their sick. At the meal of Jesus, there was Trust for despite having meager resources of only five loaves of bread and two fish, the disciples were able to feed 5,000 people excluding women and children. At the party of Jesus, there was Contentment, because everyone was satisfied and they even had twelve baskets left filled with bread and fish.

Our Gospel today, the feeding of the five thousand or the multiplication of the loaves and fish, is somehow a reference to what happened in the Old Testament. When Elisha orders his servant to set twenty loaves of bread and some grain before a hundred men, the servant resists at first, then do as they were told. The crowd was fed and there were some food left as well.

The same Gospel is somehow the fulfillment of what the prophet Isaiah said in our First Reading today, “All you who are thirsty, come to the water! Come you who have no money, come receive grain and eat; Come without paying, drink wine and milk!” The prophet was inviting the people for a free banquet; a banquet that gives life!

This Gospel also refers us to the mission of Jesus here on earth at that time. He was to feed the people not only with food but also with the Word of God! He was to tell the people that the Kingdom of God is at hand!

However, this Gospel narrative also reminds us of a banquet which Christ left us as a memorial. A banquet which He instituted on the night He was betrayed—the Eucharist! Since we were children, we have always been taught that the Eucharist is the food for our souls; that we have to go to Mass every Sunday for us to be nourished after the exhausting week that’s gone. Now the question is, has the Eucharist really satisfied our lives the way it did to the people in our Gospel today? My professor once told me that the nourishing character of the Eucharist is that it gives Hope!

But, what is Hope?

Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical Spe Salvi defines hope as

“…that which enables us to look to the next life, but it also inspires and purifies our actions in this life.”

In every Eucharistic celebration, we are experiencing the future banquet with Our Lord in heaven. In every Mass, we are inspired by the sacrificial act of Jesus to lay down His life for His friends, and through this, our motivations in relating with others are purified. By experiencing these truths in every Mass, we are then nourished by Hope!

At a more practical level, let us learn to respect the Mass. If we are able to look good in our social “party – parties” outside, please, let us also put extra effort in preparing for every Eucharistic party we go to. Let us put in extra effort in participating in the Eucharist. It would be redundant to give reminders because we’ve already been taught these things, so I decide not to remind. Instead, I will encourage. I encourage everyone, including myself, to come to Mass on time; to listen attentively to the Readings; to reflect upon the Homily; and to wait after the Final Blessing has been given before leaving the church.

But the most important form of respect we can give the Eucharist is acknowledging our sins and going to Confession when we are in a state of mortal sin. Let us not forget these things. We can only experience the nourishing character of the Eucharist if we properly dispose ourselves to receiving such gift!

If our lives have been nourished by the Eucharist, then we can re-echo the words of St. Paul in our second reading today, that neither anguish, distress, persecution, present things, future things, and even death, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord!

We always like to “party–party”. Once we achieve something in life, it always calls for a celebration. Every time we receive a blessing from God, do we “party” with Him in the Eucharist? Every time we feel that life is unfair, do we “party” with him in the Eucharist? The invitation remains true today, “Come to me, that you may have life!”

Amen!