A HOMILY FOR THE EIGHTH SUNDAY
AFTER PENTECOST
About Today’s Gospel, and About Perishable and Imperishable Food
Brothers and sisters,
Today we heard the gospel reading from Saint Matthew telling about how, shortly before His Transfiguration, our Lord Jesus Christ healed numerous sick folk in Galilee and fed five thousand men and a corresponding number of women and children with five loaves and two fishes which He miraculously multiplied. This lection reminds us that our Lord Jesus is the Creator of all things, the Giver of life, and the Sustainer of our souls and bodies. He provides the fruits of the earth for our sustenance and enjoyment; He sends the first rain, and the latter rain;[1] He shakes the vault of heaven with thunder and hurls lightning from the sky; and He bringeth winds out of His treasuries.[2] In Him we live, and move, and have our being,[3] as Saint Paul writes.
And so, brothers and sisters, since we enjoy the Lord’s gifts every day, let us thank Him every day. Let us repay His love with love for Him; let us repay His compassion with compassion for our neighbors. In return for all His gifts, God asks nothing more than that we pay back His love and do His will. When the Lord Christ saw the ill in the crowd, He was moved with compassion toward them, and healed the sick. What does this teach us, if not to be compassionate and merciful to one another? For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you,[4] says Christ. So, you cannot heal diseases? But you can console the ill, visit them, call them on the telephone, or offer them practical assistance. You can also show patience with those ailing in mind, soul, or spirit; give them your time; lend them your ear; and gently offer them helpful advice. You cannot multiply loaves and fishes as did Christ, but you can distribute alms, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide shelter for those who lack it, or simply ease the situation of those less fortunate than yourself in whatever way you can.
This leads us to the next point. Today’s gospel lection also teaches us not to be afraid to share even when we ourselves have relatively little, for as the Scriptures say, He that giveth to the poor shall not be in want.[5] The apostles had only five loaves and two fishes, seemingly insufficient for them to provide anything to the multitude. But Christ turned this little into a great quantity of food, feeding thousands. Forty times more remained to the apostles at the end than they had at the beginning. From this we should understand that we have nothing to fear from generosity to the poor or, still less, to God Himself. For money given to God’s Church or to the needy is like seed that multiplies itself tenfold, twentyfold, or a hundredfold. Thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord,[6] and, Faithful is the Lord in all His words.[7]
Even more important, today’s gospel reading reminds us that our true bread, our true sustenance, is not corruptible and earthly in nature, but incorruptible. If we labor for corruptible food, then we should labor much more for the incorruptible food that sustains the soul and renders it fit for life everlasting. This incorruptible food is first, hearing and reading the word of God; second, prayer, which sanctifies and nourishes the soul with supracelestial grace, and third, communing of the all-holy, immaculate Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Or better simply to say, this incorruptible food is Jesus Christ Himself. We should labor in all the ways our Holy Church directs, in order to acquire Christ’s abiding presence within.
After being fed miraculously on the five loaves and two fishes, the people continued coming to Jesus in the hope of being fed again in the same way. In response, the Lord reproached them, saying, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek Me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, My Father giveth you the true Bread from heaven. For the Bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. I am the Bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.[8] Earthly food strengthens only the body, not the immortal soul, which is why the Apostle says, It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with foods, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.[9] Through grace, Christ comes to dwell within us; through grace, the Kingdom of heaven is established within us, for where Christ is, there is the Kingdom.
Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods; but God shall destroy both it and them,[10] teaches Saint Paul. And so, brothers and sisters, labor to earn your perishable food, but labor much more for the imperishable food of grace that sustains your immortal soul. Listen attentively to the word of God in church, apply yourself diligently to reading spiritual books at home, attend divine services as frequently as you can, and faithfully fulfill your rule of private prayer. Above all else, prepare yourself without fail to partake worthily of the immaculate Body and Blood of the Saviour whenever the Holy Liturgy is to be served. If you really want divine longing to be kindled in your heart; if you really wish to acquire fervent love for Christ; if you really desire to be acceptable to God; if you really hope for Christ to dwell within you, then prepare yourself most diligently, and partake continuously of the sacred Mysteries of Christ. For if the glorious Body of the Lord Jesus is united to your body, and His redeeming Blood courses constantly through your veins, then you have become one body and one blood with Christ. At the resurrection of the just, the vivifying power and energy of this all-holy Body and Blood will vivify your body and raise it incorruptible. Thus your body and your entire being will share in the glory of the supremely glorified Body of Christ, as Saint Paul assures the Philippians: “He shall change not just our vile soul, but our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.”[11] Amen.
[1] Deut. 11:14
[2] Ps. 134:8
[3] Acts 17:28
[4] John 13:15
[5] Prov. 28:27
[6] Jer. 31:16
[7] Ps. 144:14
[8] John 6:26, 27, 32, 33, 35
[9] Heb. 13:9
[10] I Cor. 6:13
[11] Phil. 3:21
