The gospel that we have today immediately follows the story of the multiplication of the bread, which was the gospel that we had last Sunday. It is quite interesting that after Jesus literally fed around five thousand men and women, which really shows us that He is very much concerned with the physical well-being of every individual, he reminds those same people with these words: “Do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal." What we have here is Jesus telling them and us that in as much as we need to take care of our bodily needs like food, we also need to pay equal attention or more attention to our spiritual well being. We human beings operate through our senses — what is usually appealing and pleasurable are those things that can satisfy our senses and physical desires. St. Chrysostom, one of the finest preachers in the fourth century who was called the “Golden Mouth” because of his powerful homilies, said “Men are nailed to the things of this life.” He might be correct on this but, at the same time, God has also gifted us, in virtue of being made in his own image and likeness, the capacity to transcend what is physical, that ability to see and discern what is invisible to eye, the ability to raise our eyes to heaven and not just be
consumed by what the stark and visible world that we see everyday offers.
This is what Jesus was trying to say to the crowd “Hey, people, look, I have already fed you when you were hungry. I just multiplied the bread and fish for you. But instead of you thinking or elevating your mind to the God who made these things possible for you, you are still stuck on the bread that you ate.” A scripture scholar puts it well with these words what Jesus was trying to teach the people here: “you cannot think about your souls for thinking about your stomachs.” This also made me recall a story about a child sitting in the back seat of his mother’s car with a hamburger in one hand and fries on his lap, just having pulled out of McDonald’s, asked his mother, “Where are we going to eat after we eat next?” Sad to say, children are not always the one who thinks that way—adults do too. One can also just get stuck to the earthly bread and not even bother to raise our eyes to the God who in his loving providence continues to sustain us in all our needs.
With everything that humanity has achieved over the centuries in the various aspects of life—with the great advancements in technology, medicine, science, engineering – humanity has achieved so much. What we are enjoying right now was unthinkable twenty or fifty years ago. But vis a vis with this impressive growth and development is also the growing attitude that “I can do everything on my own without God.” This is much worse than not being grateful to God’s loving providence. This dependence and trust in God are at times being substituted with this self deceiving mentality that everything that we are enjoying right now – wealth, prestige, honor, beauty, good health—will last forever. The bad news is that these things can be gone in the blink of an eye. We saw this with the collapse of the market where prosperity was turned into bankruptcy; probably we know a friend or a family whom we never thought would have a heart attack and die so young; or a promising football player who in the peak of his fame met a horrible accident that left him paralyzed forever. My point is: we really have to examine where we put our ultimate trust, confidence and security because our earthly life is just a stopover, and for some people it can really be a very short stopover. If we are working so hard, putting our best foot forward to things that we know for sure we cannot bring with us after we hit the grave, then why not work extra harder for those things that will ensure us eternal life with God. Of course we have to work and aim for success in our own fields and careers, but remember that our insatiable desire for the best is actually a longing for the Ultimate Best – who is God. As what a very famous and accomplished actor once said after achieving the height of success “I have reached the top, and no one and nothing was there.” We know that success is not so much about power, wealth or honor, but having that spontaneous and growing relationship with God and surrounding ourselves with the people who truly love and care for us. As we pray in the words of the Our Father that God’s will for us may be done on earth as it is in heaven, we really need to re-examine our priorities in life right now and ask ourselves with complete honesty and sincerity if we are indeed heeding or following God’s will. How proactive are we in working for the food that does not perish but gives eternal life?
As some of you already know, Msgr. Frank Campbell passed away last Sunday at 9:30am. I had the privilege of giving him the last Rites two Fridays ago. Earlier that week, he remarked that he was ready to see the Lord. It was quite amazing to see how serene and peaceful he was as he accepted his pending death. It can only be possible with deep faith and with the sure hope in the promise of eternal life. Msgr. Campbell’s funeral is scheduled on August 7 (Friday) at 10:30am at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Portland. We thank Msgr. Campbell for his years of ministry in the Archdiocese of Portland and for the time that he shared with us here at St. Cecilia’s after his retirement. He will surely be missed.
We are already in full swing in our wedding celebrations since July. For the months of August and September, we have a wedding scheduled every single Saturday. But on August 15th at 1pm, we will be having a “Communal Wedding Mass,” where eight couples will be married at the same time. They have been preparing for months for this big day. Please keep them in your prayers as they await for this life-changing event in their lives. It’s truly exciting! – Fr. Cary