Homily 18^th Sunday Ordinary A
Today, we celebrate the Eighteenth Sunday in the Ordinary Time. Last week I announced my new assignment as Parochial Vicar of Holy Trinity Parish in Eldorado Hills, beginning September 1. I know that many of you are sad and heartbroken. I understand and share your emotions. But the Book of Ecclesiastes says, “ There is a time for everything. There is a time to be born and die. There is a time to weep and laugh. There is a time to work and rest. There is a time to arrive and depart.” Now time has come for me to depart where God is sending me to shepherd his people in Eldorado Hills. But before leaving, I want to say goodbye to my people and friends of Placerville and Georgetown. Therefore, I will celebrate my Farewell Mass at Saint Patrick of Placerville on Saturday, August 29, 2020 at 4pm; and at Saint James of Georgetown on Sunday, August 30, 2020 at 10am. In my homily today, I’ll focus on two main points.

1. My first point is about God’s generosity

Today’s First Reading talks about the boundless generosity of God, who gives freely and in extravagant measure. To the people of Israel experiencing such a miserable existence during Exile, prophet Isaiah announces a message of joy and hope.  Yahweh God is inviting all his children without any distinction to come to the banquet of his kingdom to eat and drink, boundless and measureless: “ Thus says the Lord: All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; Come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk! Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what fails to satisfy? Heed me, and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare. Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life.” While grain, wine and milk that is freely offered may refer to the physiological food that feed only stomach, the invitation to come to the water echoes all the other kind of hungers and thirsts that only God can appease and fulfill; for example the hunger and thirst of love, peace, faith, hope, solidarity; the spiritual hunger and thirst, such as hunger and thirst of God, of his Body and Blood in the Eucharist. I personally like the image used in the Refrain of Psalm 145 to represent God’s boundless generosity. That psalm uses the image of “The Hand”: “ The Hand of the Lord feeds us.” Let’s take a little time to think about how big or huge God’s Hand might be to feed the whole world. So today, that invitation is addressed to all of us. God, in his boundless kindness and generosity is calling us saying, “ Come to me all you my children of Placerville and Georgetown who are hungry and thirsty, come to the water of grace! Come, without paying and without cost, eat my Bread of life and drink my Blood of the new covenant.”  Today, I want you to think about your own hungers and thirsts, and then open your heart to welcome God’s invitation to come to the fountain of the Eucharist to feed your soul with the divine bread and drink for eternal life. Are you hungry and thirsty of peace in your heart and family? Are you hungry and thirsty of joy in your home or at your work place? Are you hungry and thirsty of love in your couple, in your family? Are you hungry and thirsty of reconciliation in your home with your husband, your wife, your parents, your children? Are you hungry and thirsty of good health in this time of pandemic? Today, God is calling you to come to him, to his fountain of grace, so he will fulfill your hungers and thirsts.

1. My Second point is about compassion and solidarity.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus shows compassion and solidarity for the crowds who were following him: “ When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick.” The pity of our Lord Jesus is the cause of a life-transforming abundance. Christ is not scandalized by human needs and wants. Rather, He sees every experience of human lack as a prime opportunity to manifest God’s lavishness, compassion and solidarity. The miracle of multiplication of bread gives us two insights. First, it shows us that Jesus, the Messiah of God, came to fulfill the hunger of his people. Considered to be the best psychologist in the world, Jesus knew better than anybody else how the human body works. He understood better than anybody else that the human person has two entities: the biological Body and Soul. And both entities need to be fed by their specific food. The Biological body needs what is called the physiological bread that feeds the stomach and brings to the entire body the required physical energy with carbo hydrates and proteins it needs to stay strong. On the other hand, the soul needs another kind of food to be fed with. As Jesus said to Satan in the desert, “ Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  Therefore, Jesus understood that these crowds who followed him needed to be fed in both entities: the body and the soul. As a French proverb states, “ An empty stomach has no ears.” In other words, Jesus knew that when people have empty stomach and are hungry, they cannot pay attention to any preaching or teaching. They will look tired, so they will be yearning all the time. That’s why Jesus gave them bread in profusion. Second, to make this miracle possible, Jesus wanted the participation of his apostles: “ There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” By saying, “ Give them some food yourselves,” Jesus explicitly asked his disciples to be accountable and take responsibility of their mission of saving the world. They didn’t have to send the crowd away, but they had the obligation to feed them physiologically and spiritually. Likewise in our mission of evangelization, in our parish, we don’t have to send away people who come to our Church with varied needs, hungers and thirsts; but we have the responsibility to give them hospitality and “ give them some food ourselves”, to fulfill all their hungers and thirsts. As Mother Teresa said, “ Let anyone who comes to you go away feeling better and happier. Everyone should see goodness in your face, in your eyes, and in your smile.” As a matter of fact, this miracle to be possible, the apostles gave the five loaves and the two fish they had. With that, Jesus made the miracle. So, the question for us today is: and you parishioners of Saint Patrick or Saint James, what do you have to give today to make the Miracle of Multiplication of bread possible? Today, the Lord Jesus is asking you, “ How many loaves and fish do you have?” Maybe, do you have five loaves too, like Jesus’ Apostles? Maybe, you must have more or less. The most important is not quantity of what you have to give. But the most important is to give the little you have, the best of yourself, with great love, to participate to the great miracle of love, compassion and solidarity by which God wants to save his people. As Pedro Arrupe said, “ The Eucharist will never be complete so long as people still go hungry in our world.”
Rev. Fr Pepin W. F. DANDOU
Georgetown, CA August 1, 2020.