July 28, 2024

Dear Parishioners,

If you’ve been keeping score, we’ve been reading over the last six weeks continuously from the Gospel of Matthew. We take a pause this weekend and for the next month will read the Bread of Life discourse from the Gospel of John (chapter 6), starting with the multiplication of the loaves and fishes today. In September we will resume our narrative of Jesus’ ministry from the Gospel of Matthew.

            There are several things Jesus does in this scene that I find really striking. The first is that he singles out Philip and asks him “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” Philip must have been like, “Why are you asking me?” We can ask the same thing. Why Philip? No offense to all the Phils out there, but Philip seems random. Why didn’t Jesus ask Peter? Well, that’s precisely it. Philip is random and is ordinary. He’s not the leader like Peter, or he’s not in the inner circle like James and John.

            You are random. I am random. We are not in the inner circle. And so we are precisely the people Jesus turns to with a difficult situation. “Hey, Father James, what are we going to do about this problem in the church?” Or, “Hey, you (insert your name), what are we going to do about that struggling person in your family or at your work?” That’s right, Jesus doesn’t look to anyone else. He looks to you. You are special, like Philip.

            Along those lines, the second neat action in this scene occurs now with Andrew, the brother of Peter. Andrew sees a random boy carrying five barley loaves and two fish. Jesus will make use of that boy’s simple gift to do something monumental. “What good are these for so many?” Andrew inquires. What you have doesn’t seem like much. Your prayers are simple, along with your life. Don’t underestimate what Jesus can do with that.

            Finally, Jesus tells the apostles specifically, “Have the people recline.” The whole crowd, five thousand, reclines on this great field of grass. It’s an awesome scene and an awesome action. Don’t stand and scarf down food over the kitchen sink like Father James does, but sit back, relax, and enjoy this meal. There is a sense of pleasure here. It’s important to remember this. The activities around our faith and spiritual life–be it praying, participating in the sacraments, volunteering at church–should bring us some modicum of pleasure and joy.

            Pleasure is something we struggle with. We either have too much pleasure or not enough. A person either overly indulges himself and is distant from God, or a person is close to God and punishes himself, thinking that all pleasure and joy is sinful. The first person has all the sensual delights but feels rotten inside and has no sense of meaning. The second “holy” person checks all the Catholic boxes but is a shell of himself: not happy, burdened, and probably judgmental and angry.

            If you are in one of those extremes, ask the Holy Spirit to help guide you to the center. Or, if you know someone in the extremes, the next time you go to Mass offer your communion for that person. May we all recline together on the great field of grass in the Kingdom of God.

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As I mentioned last week, I am away this weekend on my annual vacation with my priest friends and returning this week. Please know I am praying for you all and hoping that you too are enjoying these beautiful summer days.

            On Wednesday, August 14th in the evening we will be hosting here at St. Paul of the Cross in the gym a capital campaign event for us and other parishes in our pilot wave of the Archdiocesan Capital Campaign. Cardinal Cupich will be present to give a more detailed explanation of the campaign, and drinks and heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served. As I’ve mentioned in previous bulletins, thank you for your contribution to this campaign. Funds we raise will go to support priest health care and retirement, scholarships for Catholic schools, and building here at our parish outdoor Stations of the Cross and a large meeting space off the parking lot.

            Please save the date for our parish picnic on Sunday, September 8th at 1pm in the parking lot.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. James