God's Grace Comes on the World through Suffering

As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. ³⁵When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; ³⁶send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ ³⁷But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ ³⁸And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ ³⁹Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. ⁴¹Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²And all ate and were filled; ⁴³and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men. (Mark 6: 34-44)

I cannot imagine anything more unsatisfying than bread and fish. But these people were satisfied by the bread and fish that they received. 

The message of this Gospel passage is that we need to take what we have and then know and trust that what we have is enough to satisfy God’s people. We think of the banquets served by wealthy kings or government leaders or people who live in huge mansions. Those banquets may fill us up, but the Lord satisfies us with as little as loaves and fishes as long as bring it to him first. What God gives us may not be satisfying in the eyes of the world, but it is satisfying in the eyes of God because it is given in his grace. There is not only enough for ourselves, but God gives us enough to feed the people of God and to satisfy the deepest longings of one’s heart with Christ. 

Caring for others is our job. Jesus said, “You give them something to eat.” Now I am not good at guarding my expressions. People say that you can read me like a book. So you can imagine what my eyes would have been like, what my facial expression would have been like, if I heard Jesus say to me, in front of all of these hungry people, “You give them something to eat.” How was I going to feed them? 

Nevertheless, God wants us to feed others and not look for Him to do everything. It is our job, our task to feed others and not wait for God to rend open the sky and come down and do it for us. It is our job. “You give them something to eat.” God provides us with the means to feed others. 

Think about the penitential lifestyle you are living. Just by living the way you do, the world takes notice and grace is given. Or maybe your penances are so hidden that most people have no clue that you are doing them. But God knows the voluntary penances you are undertaking out of love for Him.

The world need deeply needs grace, and how do we get grace? Through suffering. People are longing for fullness, but they do not understand the value of suffering. Suffering seems to the world to be as unappetizing as bread and fish, but that is suffering in a worldly view. Maybe the crowd did not even understand what had happened or how the bread and fish were multiplied. The world may not know about your penances, but does it matter? You should still rejoice because grace is coming to the world through those penances, through what the world would consider sufferings like fasting and abstinence and all those prayers and that weeding out of your clothing. Little penances that bring grace into this world. God will satisfy His people through this grace.” You give them something to eat” means to offer up your penances for the world so that they will not only help you to grow in grace but so that they will also bring God’s grace down upon others. It is God’s grace that satisfies more than any bread or fish or any other food.

--Father Jacob Meyer, CFP Visitor

New Insight on the Parable of the Ten Gold Coins

While people were listening to Jesus speak,
he proceeded to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem
and they thought that the Kingdom of God
would appear there immediately.
So he said,
“A nobleman went off to a distant country
to obtain the kingship for himself and then to return.
He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins
and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.’
His fellow citizens, however, despised him
and sent a delegation after him to announce,
‘We do not want this man to be our king.’
But when he returned after obtaining the kingship,
he had the servants called, to whom he had given the money,
to learn what they had gained by trading.
The first came forward and said,
‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.’
He replied, ‘Well done, good servant!
You have been faithful in this very small matter;
take charge of ten cities.’
Then the second came and reported,
‘Your gold coin, sir, has earned five more.’
And to this servant too he said,
‘You, take charge of five cities.’
Then the other servant came and said,
‘Sir, here is your gold coin;
I kept it stored away in a handkerchief,
for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man;
you take up what you did not lay down
and you harvest what you did not plant.’
He said to him,
‘With your own words I shall condemn you,
you wicked servant.
You knew I was a demanding man,
taking up what I did not lay down
and harvesting what I did not plant;
why did you not put my money in a bank?
Then on my return I would have collected it with interest.’
And to those standing by he said,
‘Take the gold coin from him
and give it to the servant who has ten.’
But they said to him,
‘Sir, he has ten gold coins.’
He replied, ‘I tell you,
to everyone who has, more will be given,
but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away.
Now as for those enemies of mine who did not want me as their king,
bring them here and slay them before me.’”

After he had said this,
he proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem. (Luke 19: 11-28)

Father David Engo recently preached a homily on Jesus' parable of the 10 gold coins. Here are some highlights.

This parable falls between Jesus' visit to Zacchaeus the tax collector and His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. In this parable, Jesus is preparing his apostles for what is going to happen to him in Jerusalem.

The parable talks about a nobleman who went to a distant country to be proclaimed king. The people did not want him to be king and even sent a delegation with this news. This prepared the apostles for the rejection of Christ in front of Pilate when the people called out, "We have no king but Caesar."

Jesus warned that, on his return, the had his enemies brought in and slain before him. This was a warning to those who rejected Him.

Before leaving his homeland, the noblemen called 10 servants and gave each of them a gold coin. He asked them to invest it until he returned. 

Father David suggested thinking of the 10 gold coins as 10 vocations in life. Each person is given one of those coins. These vocations are:
Bishop
priest
deacon
religious
hermit
monk or nun
mendicant
virgin
married laity
single laity

Jesus expects a full return on the vocation that we have received. Since we do not know when He is coming, we need to be prepared for whenever He arrives for He is coming for each of us when we do not expect. He is looking to see if we have done well with what He has given us. Jesus is looking for a sacrifice of total surrender to His love, and he is a most ardent lover who wants all of our affection. He is calling for total surrender to Himself, a complete investment of the gold coin entrusted to us. Are we ready to give back to him, not just what He gave us but our gift wisely used to evangelize the world?