The 18^th Sunday Ordinary time (Cycle A)

The tie in between today’s readings: Partnering up with God

Psalm 145:8-9;15-18, Isaiah 55:1-3, Romans:8:35-39, Matthew 14:13-21

Our reading in Psalm 145 reminds us of God’s goodness over His creation. The Almighty provides everything that we need in this life. He is the One who prospers us in blessings and guides us in relationships. But it’s a partnership that requires work. It doesn’t just happen. God feeds the sparrows, but it’s the early bird that gets the worm. He is gracious and open to our requests, but, when it comes to answering prayers, usually we find that God helps those who help themselves. I asked the Lord for a million dollars; He sent me a 401k application. Well and good, but if God only provided for our worldly needs here and now, if this life was all there was, even if we lived as kings, death would take us and, as the book of Ecclesiastics points out, our existence would be meaningless. Fortunately, it’s not that way.

In Isaiah 55:1-3, the prophet, speaking for the Lord, takes this physical life and projects it into the spiritual. He shouts out in verse 1, “Hey, everybody! Listen! There are eternal things! Things that can satisfy the unmet needs of your souls the way bread fills your stomachs. Wonderful and delightful things of eternal life; more than enough for you. Our merciful God will grant them to you in a relationship with Him. Come and get your fill! Forget about your money! It’s no good here! These things are priceless!” Tragically, the spiritual invitation of Isaiah is easily missed. The message is foreign. It’s like trying to describe the color red to a blind person.  Eternal realities are other worldly and need to be expressed in metaphors and symbolic demonstrations like miracles. Jesus faced the same difficulty when He fed the 5000 in today’s gospel, Matthew 14:13-21.

Jesus takes a boat ride with His disciples to a secluded place for a little alone time. Even there, the crowds are waiting for Him. The compassionate Lord forgets about Himself as He heals the masses. It’s late now and, without a McDonald’s in sight, Jesus seizes on an opportunity to put Isaiah 55:1-3 into action. The disciples fail to grasp what Jesus is thinking. Nonetheless, He moves on with a little boy’s lunch and His miracle. The five thousand men plus women and children eat their fill and leave twelve baskets of leftovers for the disciples.

With full stomachs, they camp out under the stars that night amazed over the day’s events. The next morning, the multitude will chase Jesus down. He will try to take the miracle of the loafs and fishes to the spiritual level as we saw in Isaiah 53. He will say, “Forget about last night’s dinner! There is something bigger and more important at stake! I am the Bread of Life and you must eat My flesh and drink My blood to gain real life…eternal life!” “Ridiculous!”, they shout and leave Him. The previously blind man, now sighted, will look for the nearest town. The newly walking lame person will follow the path leading away and the former mute will mutter to himself asking what ever made him get involved with this crackpot Rabbi in the first place. They all will miss the point of Christ’s message! They were only in it for the here, the now, and…for breakfast. Even the disciples don’t understand, but they have the faith to stick it out and diligently search for the answers with Jesus. The spiritual life with God requires a working partnership to achieve anything blessed.

In this partnership with God, the Lord challenges us to take up our cross and follow Him. It goes without saying that whenever you pick up a cross it can only end one way as our reading in Romans 8:35-39 tells us:

“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered. (Vs. 36)”

However, we do not despair, but rather, advance through this laundry list of tribulations, persecutions, and perils, because nothing can separate us from the love of our Father in Jesus. Nothing! We are joined to Him, who defeated death and reigns as King of kings. Standing in His power we will ultimately conquer all of our (and Christ’s) enemies in this world and the next. All this and heaven too! This is the great good news of salvation! This is the stuff of eternal life!

So, partner up with God for His blessings along with the tribulations that are bound to come as you follow Him (Mark 10:28-30). Take that step of faith into eternal life and a real spiritual relationship with the Father through His Son by the Holy Spirit. As the Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:18:

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

And in 1 Corinthians 2:9:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Give your heart to Christ. Partner up with Him. Pick up your cross. Don’t be afraid! It’s all good!