SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: John 6:1-15

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio tells us that the Gospel of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes has profound implications for the meaning of Christian vocation. Jesus asks the disciples to feed the crowd but they do not have the personal or material resources to do so. Then Jesus takes what little that they have to offer and transforms it into a great feast. In the same way, Jesus does not demand that each of us be endowed with wonderful talents or the ability to achieve great things. All he asks is that we be willing to offer our humble abilities and actions to his providence. If we do so, he can then bring them to marvellous fruition.

Parallels between the Gospel story and the Old Testament story of the Passover

This Sunday we hear of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes as given by the Gospel of St John. It is close to the time of the Passover and the crowd follow Jesus to the other side of the sea because of the signs and wonders he has done. The Passover in the Old Testament was when the Israelites followed Moses to the other side of the Red Sea because of the signs he had worked in Egypt. The events of the Passover, the journey through the desert, and the happenings at Mount Sinai transform the people of Israel into the people of God. In the journey to the Promised Land, they become the new man born from the Egyptian in their hearts. During their time in the desert they are fed with manna from heaven. The Gospel passage from John has many parallels with the Old Testament story, and is intended to help us to unlock the significance of the Passover in Christian terms. 

Jesus confronts the disciples with the poverty of their own resources

Jesus looks up and see a great crowd approaching. He asks Philip, "Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?" It is significant that he asks Philip the question. Philip is a Greek name, and the Greeks are known classically for their rational approach to life. In a moment Philip has assessed the situation. The most money they would be likely to have between them was 200 denarii - not an insignificant sum - but this couldn't hope to feed a crowd of such size. This episode is an episode aimed principally at the disciples. Philip has been put to the test and has had to admit that they are not up to the task of feeding this crowd. It is important for the disciples to be confronted with the fact that the vocation that Jesus gives them cannot be brought to fulfilment using their own resources. We will never have sufficient resources of our own to evangelize the people of God, to serve those who need to be served, comfort those who need to be comforted.

Discipleship is not about having great talents, but in offering whatever we have to Jesus

Andrew, the fisherman, is not as rational as Philip, and he intervenes to say that he has found a boy with five loaves and two fish, but he admits that that is very little for a crowd so large. The issue, however, is not whether what we have to offer is small or large, the issue is whether we are willing to hand what we have over to Jesus. It doesn't matter whether we are richly endowed with abilities or have few talents. The only thing that matters is whether we give Jesus the chance to manage what we have to offer. What we must draw from this text is the constant awareness that what the Lord wants from us is not great acts or achievements, but the willingness to offer our lives and humble actions to his providence.

Each of us can live fruitful lives if we offer our humbles actions to Jesus

This text is profoundly vocational and has greater significance for the disciples than for the people who are fed. In the end the people are fed and are satisfied, but have understood little of the significance of the event. The disciples, by contrast, are given a profound lesson in the meaning of Christian vocation. Jesus did not create bread from nothing, but used the humble bread that was available. Each of us can achieve extraordinary deeds if the Lord is allowed to work in us. As Mary exclaimed, "The Almighty has worked marvels in me! He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty!" This is exactly what happens in the Gospel passage. I must orient my life to the Lord so that he can manage it, so that he can break it like bread and use it according to his plan. This text should banish fear from our hearts regarding our own inadequacies! It should prompt us to focus on one thing only: giving ourselves over to the Lord completely. He will take care of the rest.

SIXTEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME
Gospel: Mark 6:30-34
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio
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In the Gospel this Sunday, the disciples return from their mission and Jesus calls them away to a place of solitude. Don Fabio sees these two movements - mission in the world and solitude with Christ away from the world - as inseparable elements of the Christian life. Unless we spend time alone with Christ, learning of his compassion at first hand, we will never be ready for our mission in the world, which involves bringing the compassion of Christ to others.

Recounting our story in the presence of Christ is of fundamental importance for the integrity of our mission

The disciples return to Jesus after their missionary activity and they gather around him. There is an important message here. Missionary activity is not something that takes up so much of our time that it leaves us with no opportunity to gather around Jesus. As a beautiful prayer of the church says: "Every action of ours has You as its origin, and You as its fulfilment". The Lord gives us our mission and we, at regular intervals, must return to him. What is described in this week's Gospel is something that should happen to us everyday. We must carry out our mission and we must return to Jesus, recounting everything that has happened to us in our efforts to be true to our mission. Why is this so important? Evidently it is not because Jesus does not already know what we have done. The reason, rather, is that it is only in the recounting of my story in the presence of Christ that my story is truly revealed for what it is. Only in that moment do I understand exactly what I have lived and take full possession of it. The art of storytelling is intrinsic to the faith, because life is all about communication. The ability to communicate something requires the ability to understand the truth of something, and the communication of that truth puts us into relationship with others. Faith and scripture are all tied to storytelling. Each of us has an inner life that is unintelligible to others unless we make a gift of it to others by talking to them. To enter into a Christian relationship with others, there has to be a moment when we share our inner experiences. In this week's Gospel the disciples share their experiences with the Lord. To have a fraternal relationship with others it is necessary to share our experiences, no longer shoring them up inside. Someone who talks only to himself risks losing sight of what is genuinely important in life.

In family life, similarly, communication of our interior life is essential for good relationships

Similarly, in a family it is essential that the various members communicate with each other on an authentic level. The home is not a place where people merely look at television, or download information that is external to them and irrelevant to what is really happening in their lives. The home, instead, should be a place where people look each other in the face, share with each other, and communicate. In the workplace too it is fundamental that people communicate and share with each other. Workplaces become dysfunctional when there is a lack of unity and understanding between the members of the workforce.

To be ready for missionary activity in the world, I need to spend time away from the world in the presence of the Lord

The Lord Jesus was aware of this fact and he encouraged the disciples to practice the art of recounting and listening. To this end he suggested going to a deserted place where they could be alone. In last week's Gospel, we read about the disciples' missionary activity to the world. This week we hear about the necessity of being apart from the world and being alone with God, albeit in fraternal circumstances These two movements are fundamental to the life of the church and one cannot survive without the other. If we do not have possession of an inner solitude with Christ, then we have nothing to offer when we go out to others. We have an absolute need to be recharged in this way! We only have to consider the enormous amount of time Mother Teresa of Calcutta spent in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. If I want to be a person of God then I need to spend much time in prayer. If I have a lot of engagements with the public, then I need to spend a similar amount of time in solitude with God. Otherwise I run the risk of not being properly prepared for encounter with the public, of not being sufficiently grounded in Christ to be able to engage with the public in a fruitful manner.

The Christian life must have an equilibrium between activity among others and solitude/renewal with Christ

In the Gospel passage we are considering this Sunday, Jesus draws attention to the need of grounding one's life and mission in the fraternal encounter with God. This is not something secondary but is of fundamental importance. We are Christians and one of the pillars of our marvellous faith is the incarnation; the union of the divine and the human in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus assumes our flesh, and the flesh is not an accidental vehicle of the spirit as is believed by some eastern religions. Flesh for the Christian is not something from which we should be liberated. In the resurrection of the body we shall be reunited with our glorified bodies in heaven. But the limits imposed by our bodies are the limits of our mission. The day is not made up of thirty two hours, but twenty four. If one wishes to be in a position to help others then one must get sufficient sleep and be in a condition to be physically able to do what needs to be done. This is not to advocate the sort of obsession with physical wellbeing that is the hallmark of so many so-called spiritual movements today. The point is that there must be equilibrium in our lives, and this requires rest in the Lord. It is not just physical rest and renewal that we regularly need, but substantial spiritual renewal. This involves the ability to say no to those who at times harangue us for our services. A Christian is not a piece of merchandise that can be exploited by whoever has need. The Christian is first and foremost obedient to God and must abide by the stops that God places on him. In order to be truly capable of compassion, one must first be able to perceive the compassion of Christ. We must place ourselves before him and be still, resisting the temptation to consider ourselves omnipotent, fighting the demon within us that strives for efficiency, combating the fussiness and hurry that is incompatible with the wisdom of God.  We must stop so that we will be able to start again. We must be regenerated by the compassion of Christ so that we can be generously compassionate with others. If we do not then we risk falling into serious error. When we go to help others we will, in the end, only be looking after ourselves, being dictated to by the inclinations of our own ego. The ego is inevitably there, and we must not forget that. That is why we need someone to die on the cross for us and to bring us to the resurrection. We need to be saved, redeemed, and freed. For this reason, the "places of liberation" with Christ are fundamental. It is essential to be aware of the places where we can be alone with Christ and be renewed. Once we find such places then we must defend them robustly, because they are the fountains of genuine Christian action.

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FIFTEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME
Gospel: Mark 6:7-13
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio
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SUMMARY OF THE HOMILY

Don Fabio considers this week's Gospel to contain a manifesto for Christian missionary activity. By virtue of our baptism we have all been given a particular mission by Christ, and this mission includes every word that we say and every action that we undertake. Before embarking on any course of action, we must ask if it derives from my relationship with Christ, or if it comes solely from me. The Gospel contains detailed instructions on how we are to carry out our mission:

1. Our actions must be grounded in Christ; 
2. They must be carried out in communion with the Church;
3. They give us power over the one who seeks to destroy communion and tries to sow divisions/compromises/ambiguities within each of us;
4 To be missionaries we must simply be missionaries - no equipment or resources are essential; 
5 We must wear the single garment that is our Christian identity and never exchange it for any other garment.

The original homily now follows . . . 

All of our actions must be measured against a simple standard: Do they originate in our relationship with Christ

Sunday's Gospel passage recounts how Jesus sent his disciples out on mission. We shouldn't read this text as if it were just an interesting description of the mission of the apostles. Mission is an intrinsic part of the life of every baptized person, and this text must be read as if it were spoken directly to each of us.

The first important point to be drawn from the text is that Jesus calls the disciples to himself and then sends them out on mission. Mission is something that has its source in Christ, not in us. Many of the things that we do, originate in our own designs, plans, or instincts. And the things that come purely from us also finish with us. But things that derive from our relationship with Christ have influence that goes far beyond the immediacy of what we do or say. We should be extremely fearful of things that do not originate solidly in our relationship with Christ. Everything that we do or say, or omit to do, must be evaluated against that standard.

How can we know if our actions truly have their origin in Christ? The first thing is simply to ask ourselves each time we do or say anything: "Does this originate in my relationship with Jesus?" This simple habit provokes the kind of self-awareness that leads to wisdom, enabling the person to distinguish between acts that stem from Jesus or simply from us. But if one does not even bother to ask this question then one will never attain the capacity for discernment. 

Christian missionary activity is not individualistic. It must be done in communion with the Church and others

Jesus calls the disciples to himself and sends them out in twos. Christian mission generally does not involve solitude. There are many reasons why it is better to go on mission in twos, and these have been highlighted by the fathers of the church and others. But the principle reason is that of communion. "Where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst of them". To work in twos means to avoid the self-deception of being autonomous. It means to work in a context in which each one is encouraged, constrained and measured by another.

Working in communion with others gives power over the devil, who seeks to destroy communion

Working in pairs in this way, according to the text, gives the disciples power over unclean spirits. What does this mean? It means that this communion of discipleship gives power over that which seeks to destroy communion. The Holy Spirit is the one who creates communion and the devil is the one who destroys it. In fact, the word "diabolic" originally means "he who divides". The one who is in communion has power over that which seeks to destroy our communion with God and with our neighbour; namely, the spirit of impurity, that leads us to ambiguities and compromises within ourselves. Discipleship, then, involves communion with the church and with others, and gives the power to confront the personal principle of evil in the world.

The mission of the church is not just some activity that gives us consolation or meaning. It is a project against the origin of evil itself. Our baptismal calling involves a communion with Christ that entails engaging in a battle against that which leads to unhappiness in the world. The Gospel passage then goes on to give some important instructions about how we should embark on this mission.

The staff is a symbol of the various activities that the Christian must undertake

We are told to take only a staff. The staff has huge symbolic significance in the bible, particularly in the Psalms. First of all it is the instrument of the one who is going somewhere. It is also an instrument of defence and attack. The staff, moreover, is an object associated with power and dominion, as in the sceptre of a king. The staff of a shepherd has two functions. One end is pointed to prod the flock in a particular direction, whilst the other end has a hook, which enables the shepherd to pull back the one who is going in the wrong direction.

To be a good missionary, a person must simply be grounded in Christ. Material resources, techniques and structures are secondary

Staff and sandals are the only things that a missionary is to take with him. He is not to take bread,  carrier bag, belt nor money. These objects represent all of the supports that we have in this world. In order to complete our mission none of these things are essential. This instruction of Jesus is striking! Often when we embark on pastoral projects the first thing we think of is monetary and material resources. According to our modern criteria, Jesus would have been a hopeless organiser of pastoral initiatives! When Jesus sent people on mission he asked simply that they be missionaries, not that they be furnished with the materials "necessary" for mission. This is a very important point. In order to be a good father or mother, the essential thing is to be a good father or mother, not merely to have all of the material things that are useful for parenting. To exercise the priestly ministry well, similarly, one must simply be a good priest. The structures and techniques that complement good parenthood, or good priestly ministry, are important, but one must first have the essential characteristic that gives value to everything else.

The Christian must remain faithful to his unique Christian identity. This is the only garment that he must wear

This essence that Jesus is pointing to is highlighted by the other instructions that he gives to the disciples. They are not to carry two tunics, but only one. The changing of a tunic is symbolic of a change of identities. A comedian changes his dress regularly during his  act in order to portray different characters. But the Christian must have a single, non-negotiable identity. A Christian cannot exchange or abandon the virtues or habits that he has acquired as an essential part of being a Christian. 

Reception and rejection of the Gospel

What a marvellous text with which to contemplate the nature of our mission as Christians! We are told to stay in a house in a given district until our work is finished in that area. This refers to the fact that our missionary work should not lead us to have transitory or fleeting relationships with people, but we should remain in communication with people for as long as the Lord decrees is necessary. Sometimes, even pastorally, we jump from one relationship to another without ever really engaging in serious communication with people.

The Gospel passage also deals with the theme of the rejection of the Gospel. When someone rejects the Gospel then this is something that must be acknowledged and accepted. The shaking off of the dust from one's feet is not an act that needs to be physically carried out. It is a symbolic act whereby we acknowledge that the Gospel has been rejected and we move on.

A Christian who accepts his mission can bring about conversion and change of heart. The various orders that Jesus gives in this passage are a veritable course of formation in Christian mission. What a beautiful mandate from Jesus! By following these instructions we are given authority over unclean spirits and attain the power to heal man of the illnesses that obstruct his conformity to Christ. What great things we are called to do as part of our wonderful faith!

Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Gospel: Mark 6:1-6

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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This Gospel reveals the shocking power of human incredulity to bring the work of God to a standstill. Don Fabio challenges us to be shaken by this text, and to take seriously the way in which our prejudices towards matters of faith can impede the work of God in our lives.

The human being must never be reduced to his family background, occupation or social status

The Gospel recounts the visit of Jesus to his hometown of Nazareth, where, on the Sabbath, he teaches in the Synagogue. At the beginning of the passage we discover that his listeners are astounded at the fact that he stands up to teach them. At the end of the passage it is Jesus who is astounded at them because of their incredulity.

We tend to find it hard to believe in the work of God, to accept that a person might be something more than a child of his parents, to imagine that a man could be something other than his occupation. The human being naturally sees everything in very predictable and boring terms. "You are what you are. Don't come here putting on a big show. We know who you are and where you've come from, and that's all there is to you". Many people turn away from the faith because it doesn't fit in with their way of looking at things, but faith should never be limited to our way of looking at things! And through the eyes of faith a person should never be limited to his work, his occupation, or his family connections. The human being is something more than all of these things. Jesus is dumbfounded when he is confronted by this attempt to limit him and categorize him. He knew of the greatness, power and love of God. He knew the Father and was stunned by the hardness of his listeners' hearts.

Unbelief is one of the most fearful powers of the human being. It can completely frustrate the power of God

This situation means that Jesus is unable to exercise his power in the usual way and is only able to heal a few of the sick. It is interesting to note that in these conditions one can only accept the grace of Christ if one is in a desperate condition. When one is rich in spirit one cannot receive the Kingdom of God. How blessed are the poor in Spirit! One has to be sick and aware of one's sickness before one can be touched by the healing hands of Christ.

The incredulity of the human being is one of the most terrible powers that he possesses. God is omnipotent, but he must stop in front of the closed door of human unbelief. St Augustine said, "God who created you without your cooperation cannot save you without your cooperation". Human assent is absolutely fundamental for the work of God to be successful. Human openness towards God is the essential condition for the work of God to be efficient in us. Part of our greatness and nobility resides in the fact that we can genuinely say no to God. We have the capacity to frustrate and sadden the Holy Spirit.

Sin is rooted in a lack of openness to the work of God in us

This extraordinary mystery is the mystery of sin, for sin is always an act of rejection of God. All sin is the refusal of the work of God in us, a refusal of his law, a refusal of his word. It involves a rejection of the truth that is apparent to us in the workings of our conscience. We reject that truth and say "This is what I believe, and this is how things are, full stop". We have a liberty that God cannot force. Even if we say yes to God once, God continues to respect that liberty. On the next occasion, we will have to exercise our liberty all over again in order to say yes to God once again. But once we say yes to evil, the next yes to evil can become automatic. As the Gospel of John tells us, he who commits sin becomes a slave of sin.

We must retain a complete openness to Jesus, never thinking that we know him fully, refraining from labelling him, or labelling any aspect of the life of the church, or our own past. Jesus gives new sense and meaning to everything.

Jesus is unable to work miracles in Nazareth because of the hardness of people's hearts. Why was there such hardness of heart? Because the people there thought they already knew Jesus through and through. Jesus was put in a box and labelled, and this prejudice impeded the power of God. This text thus reveals something to us that ought to shake us to the core! God can be frustrated by our attitudes! We can be in the presence of that which leads into paradise and yet never enjoy it! And why not? Because we are locked in prejudiced ways of looking at things that prompt us to say, "I know you already. You have nothing of interest to say to me".

The hardness of the human heart is stupefying. We cast a cold eye on the work of God and think that we have comprehended it totally! But who can comprehend the action of God! Even the greatest of the saints continued to be surprised by God right up to the last moment of their lives. We do not know the Lord Jesus completely and we must wait for him to reveal himself to us. Let us not put labels on the work of God, on the life of the church, on the sacraments, nor even on the events of our own past. Jesus will give new meaning and sense to everything. Let us never think that we know the Lord Jesus! He is always something other. He is not simply the son of his mother, the cousin of his cousins, the labourer in his particular workshop. He is the Son of God, and this defies all of our categories.