HOMILY FOR 18TH SUNDAY YEAR A
*HOMILY FOR AUGUST 2 2020 EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR A*
Isaiah 55: 1-3; Psalm 145: 8-9, 15-16, 17-18; Romans 8: 35, 37-39; Matthew 14: 13-21
*GOD IS MY PROVIDER*
There is a song we do sing thus:
He’s a great provider (He’s a great provider), He’s a great provider (He’s a great provider), He will surely provide for me (He’s a great provider).
The Lord God always provides for us. In the First Reading, God invites us to come and receive the necessities of life. The prophet Isaiah tells us that God will give us what we need without charging us anything. You know that the best and most essential things in life are gifts from God. God lavishes people with what they need. All that is necessary is that people should come to the Lord.
The psalm response reminds us that the hand of the Lord feeds us because God answers us and provides all our needs in due season. The Psalm speaks about God’s graciousness in providing for those who seek the Lord. The Lord God satisfies the desire of every living creature.
St. Paul reminds us that nothing can interfere with God’s love for us. Saint Paul refutes the opinion of those who say that there are circumstances and events which block God’s love from reaching people. Some people had complained that their suffering from anguish, distress, persecution, or famine were signs that God did not love them. I do not know if you among those who say so!!! Others were saying that events in their past or what will happen in the future would hinder God from loving them. St. Paul reassures his readers that nothing – absolutely nothing – can stop God from loving us. God loves us with no ifs, ands, or buts.
In the Gospel, after Jesus has fed the souls and minds of those who have come to hear Him, He provides food for their bodies. It means that Jesus ministers to the needs of those around Him, even though He was seeking some “down” time to mourn the beheading of John the Baptist. He first addresses their spiritual and emotional hungers. They had been in need of food for their souls. Jesus tends to these needs. Yet, to show that God does not deal only in the spiritual world but also in the everyday, material world, Jesus feeds their bodies. He not only meets their minimal daily requirements, He feeds them abundantly. They eat to their hearts’ content and there is still more food left over than there was before Jesus fed the multitude.
Dear Sisters and Brothers, God’s generosity exceeds not only our needs, but our wildest expectations. God gives us more than we could ever hope for. What God provides, however, may not be exactly what we want or desire. For God knows our needs before we even ask and God will supply what is truly essential and more, if we but come to God and present ourselves with trust in God’s loving care. There are parents, when their children would ask their mother or father for something. They may have been in a mall and they saw something which they thought they could not live without. The kids begged their parent(s) for it. For example, they may have seen the Biscuit store and wanted to have some Biscuits, right then and there. Since the family was on their way to the car to go home for dinner, a loving parent would have to say, “No, not now. It is not what is best for you.” It was not because they didn’t love them that the parent refused to buy them biscuit. It was because their mom or dad knew what was best for them at that time, that parent said, “No.” The parent then provided a more nourishing meal beyond their expectations. There have been other times when teenage children make a decision with which their parent did not agree. The parent still loved them. At other times when parents do something with which the children absolutely disagreed. The children might be saying, “Daddy/Mommy, I hate you.” The caring parents knew that the kids were upset with the parents’ decision. Yet, the mom/dad still loved their children. The concerned parent would say, “But I still love you.” The children might say, “I don’t want you to love me, because I hate you.” God does the same thing with us. God loves us beyond our understanding. God sometimes says “no” to our requests because God knows what we need better than we know ourselves. God, at times, is not pleased with our actions, yet that does not prevent God from loving us. Nothing will ever separate God from loving us. Even the tragedies which affect our lives are not signs of God not loving us. God can use those events to remind us that we are still loved in the midst of our troubles. Nothing will ever separate us from God’s love. The only thing that can prevent God’s love from reaching us is ourselves. We can put blocks in the way of our receiving God’s love. That is what sin is. Let us turn away from sin and embrace God’s love.
*MEDITATION* What has been my attitude when I have not received something for which I have prayed? Do I turn away from God, believing that God does not love me? Do I believe that God has something better for me? Who in my life right now is most in need of the reassurance of God’s love for them and how can I help them experience it?
*PRAYER* Lord teach me to trust you, believe in you and appreciate your love. May I also love others through my actions. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen
© Rev Utazi Prince Marie Benignus SFDPM
Isaiah 55: 1-3; Psalm 145: 8-9, 15-16, 17-18; Romans 8: 35, 37-39; Matthew 14: 13-21
*GOD IS MY PROVIDER*
There is a song we do sing thus:
He’s a great provider (He’s a great provider), He’s a great provider (He’s a great provider), He will surely provide for me (He’s a great provider).
The Lord God always provides for us. In the First Reading, God invites us to come and receive the necessities of life. The prophet Isaiah tells us that God will give us what we need without charging us anything. You know that the best and most essential things in life are gifts from God. God lavishes people with what they need. All that is necessary is that people should come to the Lord.
The psalm response reminds us that the hand of the Lord feeds us because God answers us and provides all our needs in due season. The Psalm speaks about God’s graciousness in providing for those who seek the Lord. The Lord God satisfies the desire of every living creature.
St. Paul reminds us that nothing can interfere with God’s love for us. Saint Paul refutes the opinion of those who say that there are circumstances and events which block God’s love from reaching people. Some people had complained that their suffering from anguish, distress, persecution, or famine were signs that God did not love them. I do not know if you among those who say so!!! Others were saying that events in their past or what will happen in the future would hinder God from loving them. St. Paul reassures his readers that nothing – absolutely nothing – can stop God from loving us. God loves us with no ifs, ands, or buts.
In the Gospel, after Jesus has fed the souls and minds of those who have come to hear Him, He provides food for their bodies. It means that Jesus ministers to the needs of those around Him, even though He was seeking some “down” time to mourn the beheading of John the Baptist. He first addresses their spiritual and emotional hungers. They had been in need of food for their souls. Jesus tends to these needs. Yet, to show that God does not deal only in the spiritual world but also in the everyday, material world, Jesus feeds their bodies. He not only meets their minimal daily requirements, He feeds them abundantly. They eat to their hearts’ content and there is still more food left over than there was before Jesus fed the multitude.
Dear Sisters and Brothers, God’s generosity exceeds not only our needs, but our wildest expectations. God gives us more than we could ever hope for. What God provides, however, may not be exactly what we want or desire. For God knows our needs before we even ask and God will supply what is truly essential and more, if we but come to God and present ourselves with trust in God’s loving care. There are parents, when their children would ask their mother or father for something. They may have been in a mall and they saw something which they thought they could not live without. The kids begged their parent(s) for it. For example, they may have seen the Biscuit store and wanted to have some Biscuits, right then and there. Since the family was on their way to the car to go home for dinner, a loving parent would have to say, “No, not now. It is not what is best for you.” It was not because they didn’t love them that the parent refused to buy them biscuit. It was because their mom or dad knew what was best for them at that time, that parent said, “No.” The parent then provided a more nourishing meal beyond their expectations. There have been other times when teenage children make a decision with which their parent did not agree. The parent still loved them. At other times when parents do something with which the children absolutely disagreed. The children might be saying, “Daddy/Mommy, I hate you.” The caring parents knew that the kids were upset with the parents’ decision. Yet, the mom/dad still loved their children. The concerned parent would say, “But I still love you.” The children might say, “I don’t want you to love me, because I hate you.” God does the same thing with us. God loves us beyond our understanding. God sometimes says “no” to our requests because God knows what we need better than we know ourselves. God, at times, is not pleased with our actions, yet that does not prevent God from loving us. Nothing will ever separate God from loving us. Even the tragedies which affect our lives are not signs of God not loving us. God can use those events to remind us that we are still loved in the midst of our troubles. Nothing will ever separate us from God’s love. The only thing that can prevent God’s love from reaching us is ourselves. We can put blocks in the way of our receiving God’s love. That is what sin is. Let us turn away from sin and embrace God’s love.
*MEDITATION* What has been my attitude when I have not received something for which I have prayed? Do I turn away from God, believing that God does not love me? Do I believe that God has something better for me? Who in my life right now is most in need of the reassurance of God’s love for them and how can I help them experience it?
*PRAYER* Lord teach me to trust you, believe in you and appreciate your love. May I also love others through my actions. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen
© Rev Utazi Prince Marie Benignus SFDPM
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