(The Nationalist, 29 July 2005)
Every Gospel story is more than a story – it’s a parable. One such story is where Jesus felt bereaved at the execution of his cousin, John the Baptist. He went away to be quiet and alone for a while to grieve and to pray for him. But even then he didn’t get a break; people followed him, asking for help.
Jesus’ life is a parable of the self-giving of God who never stops being generous. (The only barriers between us and God are the ones we create.)
In another related story, Jesus told his followers to feed more than five thousand people with five loaves and two fish that they had brought with them. He was concerned for bodies as well as souls. He showed that a world where people share is a better world for everyone, a win-win situation. He showed that when people give their contribution, no matter how inadequate, God can do more and better. Jesus shows the human face of God.
The story says that, when everyone was finished their meal, twelve baskets of scraps were left over, an image of God’s superabundant goodness. The message from Jesus is about God giving without limit. The measure of love is to be without measure. What God is, humanity is meant to be.
Doesn’t the experience of life bear this out? Generosity evokes generosity, (just as meanness evokes meanness.) When people share, there is plenty to go round. Mahatma Gandhi said truly, ‘There is enough in this world for everyone’s need; there is not enough for everyone’s greed’.
The Eucharist is the sacrament, the parable in action, of God’s unlimited self-giving. It points the way for humanity.
For those in a hurry: ‘The only power God has in this world is the love he inspires in us’. (Rabbi Lionel Blue, in The Tablet, 14 Feb.1998, p.196)