Homily

The crowd is very large that has gathered to hear and see Jesus. There are many thousands of people who have probably spent a number of hours listening to Jesus teaching, and those who were sick were healed by His hand. It's time for dinner but Jesus refuses to dismiss the crowds to go into the towns and buy some food. Five loaves and a few fish are blessed by Him, and the multitude is miraculously fed and fed so well that twelve large baskets of bread pieces are left over.

It is interesting and important that St. Matthew places this story in his gospel immediately after the famous birthday banquet of King Herod and the death of John the Baptist. At Herod's banquet there is pride, arrogance, scheming and plotting, lavish indulgence in food and drink, even a murder—all taking place in a royal palace. But at Jesus' banquet, out in a deserted place, there is simple but adequate food, there is healing, trust, sharing, and faith.

This story of the multiplication of the loaves has an element of mystery in it, or with it: how exactly did that bread multiply itself so that it could feed many thousands of people? We could get lost in that detail and still never know for sure just exactly how the miracle took place. But it is sure that Matthew, in telling us this story, is pointing towards another event that will happen later on when Jesus will feed His disciples not with loaves of bread, but with His own Body and Blood, under the appearance of bread and wine. And how exactly that happens, is a miracle we cannot completely understand. It is a genuine banquet, a true sacrifice, where Jesus Himself is our food and our drink for the remission of our sins and unto life everlasting.

Every Eucharist is a miraculous event because what happens cannot be explained by any law of nature, but only by the power of God. At every Liturgy bread and wine become the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We all believe that. But I think the problem can be that it is difficult to fully comprehend that, to remember that, to be completely focused on that truth, to greet the Lord with sincere hearts and genuine devotion, to see Him with the eyes of faith and to carry Him with us as our Lord and God. It is not always so easy for us to meet with God Who looks like bread and wine.

Let me put it another way: If Jesus were standing here today, in the flesh, and He asked us all to come up so that He could lay His hands on us, what would our thoughts and our attitudes be while we were waiting our turn in line? "Oh, look at how cute that baby is! I wonder what I should make for dinner. I gotta remember to get those brakes looked at. I am so tired!" I suspect we would probably have different thoughts in our heads as we stood in line to be touched by the Lord. But when we receive the Holy Eucharist, we are not only touched by Him, but we also take Him within ourselves. Our thoughts often drift away and it’s easy for us to lose focus but let us do our best to keep our focus on the Lord when we come up to receive. Jesus doesn’t ask us to get into some mystical, ecstatic state. But we should try and do our best to focus when we receive Him.

I think of the millions of people in our country who are baptized in the Church and yet rarely, or even never come to the Eucharist, never come to meet and receive Christ. There are some who have never been taught what Communion is, there are some who do not believe what Communion is—a shocking poll sponsored by EWTN just came out in 2022, showing that only 50% of people who say they are Catholic believe that bread and wine become the true Body and Blood of Christ, and of those who are at church every Sunday, only 73% believe this. These numbers have been disputed. But I think the largest group of people, Catholic or not, are those who do not care what Communion is. To be able to receive the Lord in Holy Communion is just not that important in their lives. And often it is also true that Christ is just not that important in their lives, and so it's not surprising that the Holy Eucharist is not valued. We all know people who fall into this category. We all know people who consider this blessed sacrament unimportant to their lives. And truthfully, I feel sad every time I think of this, and what those people are missing.

But I am not here to preach to those who are not here. So let us think on this: only we can show those who are not here the value of this most sacred encounter with Christ. Only we can show them the great importance and the life-creating power of these holy, divine and immortal mysteries, and we do that by allowing Him Who we receive to change us—to make us like Him, to help us become better disciples so that others will see Him in us. We may not be able to easily convince others of the power of the Eucharist simply by talking with them, but if we live as people who meet with Jesus in Holy Communion every Liturgy, that is a truly powerful witness in faith. We can't guarantee results, but that should never influence our willingness to live as people who are powered and enlivened by the Body and Blood of Christ.

It's not so easy for us to approach the Lord as we should. We are easily distracted, our faith may not be strong, we get lost in our routines, our thoughts can become jumbled, and our emotions can pull and push us, and our kids do the same. Even so, let us make every effort to gather ourselves together and be prepared to meet the Lord as we approach the Holy Chalice. And then, when we receive, let us not fail to greet the Savior Who is willing to come to us so humbly. And then let us carry Him with us for our own healing and for our life, and even as a witness to those who are not here today, that they may see the Lord Who is at work within us. Just like 2,000 years ago, when Jesus saw the crowds and His heart was moved with pity for them, so also today His heart is moved with pity for us. Let us meet with Him and talk with Him Who cares so deeply for us that He becomes our food to satisfy our hungry souls.

Dear Friends, we often think of miracles as something so extraordinary that we are unlikely to ever see one. But I remind you that there is a genuine miracle at every altar in the world whenever the Divine Liturgy is served. May we never become bored or indifferent to these Sacred Mysteries, but instead let us work to be ever more attentive and focused and do our best to welcome the King of All, invisibly escorted by hosts of angels today, in this very church.