17th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2006

[Fr.Paul Weinberger]

Homily by:
Father Paul Weinberger, Pastor
St. William the Confessor Catholic Church
Greenville, Texas
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 30, 2006

When they’d had their fill, Jesus said to his Disciples, “Gather the fragments left over so that nothing will be wasted.”

In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit

Amen

For two thousand years the Church has heard of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. In the last forty years, which is only a small part of two thousand years, some “experts” have spoken of this gospel in a totally different way. In order to understand this Gospel, look at the First Reading. It has the Prophet Elisha taking twenty barley loaves made from the first fruits, which is called a tithe and I know that is a dirty word for Catholics. This tithe was enough to feed over one hundred men. Elisha was the Prophet who filled in for Elijah, the greatest Prophet of the Old Testament.

Remember the miracle that God preformed through the Prophet Elijah? There was a widow and her son gathering twigs to make a little cake and she said that after she made the cake that she and her son would die because that was the last food in the house. So Elijah told her to make him a little something and bring it to him. Wow! The lady did what he requested. Elijah prophesied that the flour in her container would never run out, nor would the oil in the jar. She was able to feed Elijah, her son and herself for months and months. This was a miracle.

So, you see Elijah and this miracle in the First Reading and then we come to Jesus feeding over five thousand men, not counting the women and children. All of these people didn’t just receive a piece of bread and a piece of fish, they had all they wanted. They even had those baskets, and we know they were wicker baskets. That is so ridiculous, they were baskets…wicker or whatever!

But…the last forty years, “experts” said that Jesus really didn’t perform this miracle. Instead, they say Jesus was such a slick talker that He got them all to share what they had with each other. You know, I won’t go on a trip unless I have a fish under this arm and a loaf of bread under this arm. Someone might need food and I can pull bread out from under my arm and share. This is so ridiculous.

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter said,

“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish”.

Well, there were five thousand there so why didn’t he go down the whole list? He only spoke to one boy? It is all they had! I am saying this because those “experts” say that the real miracle here is that Jesus got them to share. Look, if you are an adult and this is the first time you’ve heard about sharing, it must be real hard living with you. They say,

“Jesus taught them to share.”

Catholics respond to this in awe. Of course He tells us to share but that is not what this is about. Jesus is taking what little they had and doing tremendous and miraculous things with it.

Last Saturday a dear friend of mine was buried. His name was Ed and I have known him since 1993-94. He grew up on a farm in Kansas and worked all his life. If you grew up on a farm you know that at 4am someone comes into your room and tells you to get up, asking if you are going to sleep all day. Cows need to be milked, chickens need to be fed, and what ever else there is to do needs to get done. Ed had worked since he could walk and he was in his 80s when he passed away.

When Ed came to Dallas he started his own company and had still been working the last fifteen years even though he had diabetes, leukemia, prostate cancer, as well as the other aches an pains that come with old age, starting at forty-seven. [Laughter] So he worked right up until the day he died. He’d had one leg amputated and they were about to go for the other leg because his foot was infected due to the diabetes. They got the infection cleared up but he died non-the less.

Ed complained because he wanted to get out of bed and go to work. I told Ed that he had never worked harder than he was working now. Think of having a really bad backache and millions dollars and it was possible that someone could relieve your backache totally in return for your million dollars, you would give the money up immediately. It is obvious men and women are different, but when I get a headache…ohhh…no one has had a headache like my headache. Women are used to pain but men are not and when we have backaches and headaches it is so much more intense.

”You are just a woman, what would you know about pain?”

Right? [laughter] Women are able to sustain a lot of pain; pain of childbirth is the most obvious. But Ed was on a bed of pain for years and I would tell him he was working harder now than ever before and I would ask him to offer some of his pain for different intentions. In fact I saw a man yesterday that had been in rehab for two months. This is a young man with diabetes and they were about to cut his leg off. I asked Ed to pray for this young man and I asked the young man to pray for Ed.

On July 4th, Ed was talking to his only daughter and he asked her to pray to God, that He would take him that day. His daughter told me this last week. I guess he wanted it to be his independence day. It wasn’t long after he said this to his daughter on the 4th of July that he then told her to forget what he’d said. Instead he asked her to pray that God would allow him to suffer until he drew his last breath. That is the Ed I knew, the fighter and the guy who was always working. We don’t think of a bed of pain as work but until you have a pain and it gets your attention 24/7, you have never worked so hard in your life. But, we waste time.

I remember when both my grandfathers died we had to go and clean out a bunch of “stuff’ because they had leftover this and leftover that. If either one of them saw something along side the road they would pick it up and take it home, they might need it for something because they grew up in the Depression. Not only that, but they raised a family during the Depression and if you raised a family during the Depression there is something you never did after that…you never wasted something. If you go into a restaurant today they bring you food for five people and many times it gets thrown away because we don’t like bringing it home. People who grew up in the Depression never said that.

My mother tells a story of how her family would gather around the radio and they would listen together. Radio…good! T.V…bad! That is how Tarzan spoke of it. Radio got people together but then it became radio with pictures, and that is what computers are. We waste so many hours in front of the television or the computer, using the excuse that we are working on the computer, right? Sure..uh huh!

Yesterday a lady told me that someone across the street from her had the bright idea of burning leaves. DUH! Six different fire engines had to come to the blaze and put it out. Thanks be to God her home was not burned. Talk about wasting time! We all know it is dry and we need rain. You can walk across Lake Lavon and it is no miracle, right? Have we prayed every day for rain? No, because we waste a lot of time and the things we really need we don’t address in prayer saying we don’t have time.

That having been said, try an experiment. Later on today go home, go to the bathroom, close the door and look into the mirror and say,

I NEVER WASTE TIME!”

See how many times you can say this before you start laughing, right? Of course we waste time; I do and I am sure you do too. How much time do we waste? In fact, we have to been very careful about the time we waste.

Look at the opening prayer for the Mass, which says,

God, Our Father and Protector, nothing without You is holy, nothing has value; guide us to everlasting life, guide us to heaven by helping us to use wisely the blessings You have given to the world.”

In other words, don’t waste! In the Gospel today we see that Jesus didn’t like waste either.

When they’d had their fill, Jesus said to his Disciples, “Gather the fragments left over so that nothing will be wasted.”.

They gathered up five baskets of fragments. We should never waste time and yet we do everyday. Take the example of how needy we are for rain. How many times have we not turned to the Lord and prayed for rain. We waste time and this is sad indeed.

Yesterday was the Feast of St. Martha, who was a little dynamo in the kitchen. She made Martha Stewart look like a slouch. Isn’t it interesting that her name is Martha? Remember when St. Martha and Mary had Jesus over for dinner and she is clanking the pots and pans in the kitchen while giving her sister, Mary the high sign to help her in there. Martha started complaining to Jesus that Mary wasn’t helping. Mary was sitting with Jesus; she was on the floor at His Feet and St. Martha was in the kitchen whining.

”Jesus, aren’t You going to say something to my sister?”

Jesus said to her,

Martha, Martha you are anxious and upset about many things. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be denied her.

What St. Martha said to Jesus that day, we can understand. I am upset and anxious about many things everyday and so are you, but do we do what St. Mary did ourselves and put ourselves there at the Feet of Jesus? No…just clank some more pans and rattle more dishes, but don’t listen to what Jesus said and don’t chose the better portion.

There is a little portion on the front cover of your bulletin. "Portiuncula” means a little piece of land, a little plot or a little portion of land. The little Church you see there is only about 33x12 and it is inside the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels in Assisi, Italy. That little Church was the favorite of St. Francis of Assisi. He had repaired that Church and two others. The first Church he repaired was San Damiano. The roof was missing in places and the doors were off the Church and it was in ruins. While St. Francis was praying there, Jesus spoke to him from the Crucifix saying,

Francis, rebuild My Church.

So St. Francis fixed the roof and put the doors on at that Church as well as two other Churches. This Church on the front of the bulletin is Our Lady of the Angels, "Portiuncula” as it is known. The Benedictines gave this to St. Francis when he asked them for it and it was in ruins. They were glad to give him the “little portion” and it turned out to be St. Francis’ favorite Church. Now, why is that? Well, it has to do with what you see at the bottom of the picture on your bulletin.

Please visit the link below

"Portiuncula”

http://romansacristan.blogspot.com/2006 ... gence.html

In October of 1221 St. Francis was in the monastery and he was weeping over poor unfortunate sinners like you and me. He wasn’t weeping just for himself but for poor sinners. Suddenly and angel appeared to him and told him that Jesus, the Son of God, along with His mother and a heavenly host of angels had visibly descended into this little church and they were waiting for him. He ran from the monastery to the "Portiuncula”. He found that what the angel had told him was true.

Full of holy awe, St. Francis threw himself upon his face and adored Jesus most profoundly. He didn’t crumple to the floor; it was like a fallen tree that he fell. On Good Friday when I do this same thing, I kneel down and then I prostrate. When St. Francis entered a Catholic Church with the Tabernacle present, as all Catholic Churches had until about ten minutes ago, he fell to his face like a tree and prostrated himself in profound awe in the Presence of Jesus in the Tabernacle.

Jesus then looked graciously upon St. Francis and permitted the saint to ask anything with the assurance that he would obtain it. St. Francis took courage and this is what he requested. He begged Jesus that all sinners who would visit this Church and confess their sins with a contrite heart, meaning that they were really sorry and they would avoid persons and things that would lead them to sin, that they might receive a full pardon. Jesus replied,

Francis, you ask much but I will favor you with greater things still.

This is why should never get into a poker game with Jesus. He will always say that He will “see you” and He will “raise you”. You just can’t win! So He told the saint He would give him what he wanted and give him even more. He said,

Your prayer is granted but go to My Vicar, the Pope, and in My Name ask for the indulgence which I have granted to you.

That was the first Indulgence granted in the Church. What is the origin of that indulgence? What is the origin of every indulgence and every grace from every indulgence? So, when someone tells you that indulgences have been done away with, I guess they are saying they did away with Jesus? Look at the indulgence that St. Francis asked for in October of 1221, which was first applied to this little church and now by extension, every parish Church in the world, ok?

We can look in the proverbial rear view mirror at our life and see sin after sin after sin. There is a lot back there to see in your life and mine as well. Wouldn’t it be great if we could just erase the board and not recall to mind all the sin?

“Father, that is impossible!”

Yes, it is impossible for you and for me but it is not impossible for HIM! So St. Francis asked for this specifically, full pardon so that you would go back to the innocence you had the moment after you were baptized.

“Aw come on Father, that is too much!”

Well, that is what a plenary indulgence is. A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who devoutly visit a parish Church on the second of August. When the indulgence of the Portiuncula occurs in visiting it. It is required to say one Our Father and to recite the Creed, along with the usual conditions for obtaining a plenary indulgence. You receive Holy Communion on August 2nd, and if not, the closest date to that one and you go to confession within a week on either side of August 2nd. You must say one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be for the intentions of the Holy Father. You must be free from all attachment to sin.

“Hey, that isn’t a Sunday! I have to go to Church during the week? Awe, man!”

Go home today and go to the bathroom, close the door and say to yourself in the mirror that you don’t have time for that. Now fortunately we have so well trained our children to pray for the dearly departed that if we don’t do it others will pray for us when we are dead. When was the last time you prayed for someone who died? Maybe you are different; maybe you do pray for people who have died. Some people do everything. And the last thing before they go…yawn…to…yawn…sleep…

May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.”

Anyway, I can offer plenary indulgence to God for my sins but I can’t offer one for any of you. You have to do it for yourself. I can offer a plenary indulgence for my friend Ed or my father and grandparents.

“Oh come on Father, they are already in….”

See what I mean? We waste so many opportunities and when you and I go to our grave there will be people saying,

“Oh come on, are you kidding? They are already in heaven! You know how holy Fr. Paul was, he is probably already in heaven.”

PRAY FOR ME WHEN I AM DEAD! PRAY FOR ME while I am alive! Please!

There is an army in this country that is being wasted. I am not talking about our men and women in Military service, God bless them! I am talking about an army in this country that is being wasted and they are called senior citizens. Yea, I am finally going to set my sites on insulting you, right? No, I am not going to insult you at all. There is an army of senior citizens who have retired but need to be working until their last moment. So many senior citizens have the wisdom that people like me don’t have yet; it comes with age. When senior citizens retire they know their prayers, they know where the Bible is and they know how to read but so many of them waste a lot of time, which could be used for themselves and others in prayer. Without being as mobile and active means that they have time to pray the way so many of us refuse to pray. We are in that kitchen clanking the pots and pans. We can hear Jesus say,

Martha! Martha!

“I can’t hear you Jesus, what was that again?”

We have so many things to do and we are so anxious and upset about so many things we are not putting ourselves at the feet of Jesus, but senior citizens can and should spend an hour a day with Our Lord. Remember what Our Lord said to the Apostles in the Garden of Gethsemane?

Stay awake and pray that you may not be put to the test; the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Later on when He came back and found them asleep, He said,

You couldn’t stay awake with Me one hour?

That is what I say to you. Can’t you stay awake with me one hour? [Laughter]

“Well, the homily was kind of long Father!”

Jesus asks the same question of us that he asked the Apostles in the Garden but we don’t take Him at His word.

Just think about it; we waste so many opportunities when we come to Church and pray in His Presence, offering Him the little that we have and Him multiplying our little portion. We waste this opportunity every day. Why don’t we spend a Holy Hour each day in the Lord’s Presence?

“Oh, I am too busy!”

Say that the next time you have the remote control in your hand! How many hours are wasted in front of the T.V? What if someone could give back to you all the time you have spent in front of the T.V. in your life? Would you take it? Boy, talk about doubling the life expectancy! So, we do have time to pray! There may be people who don’t have a ride or can’t get to Church, but you can pray from home.

Yesterday I had to go on a sick call and it took me an hour to get there. Well, I still had to make my Holy Hour. After I preached this homily twice I said,

“Jesus, I know you are in the tabernacle at St. William’s, I unite my heart with You during this hour.”

I knew it was going to take me an hour to get there so I prayed the Rosary. That is not the ideal; I would rather spend the hour here in His Presence. That is a called a Spiritual Communion. Also it reduces the chances of “road rage”. Think about it…if you can’t come up to Church you can do this at home. The first thing you do is turn off the T.V. Mother Angelica is great but we don’t spend all our rime watching her. Even she would say not to watch her program all day long because you need to be praying too. Think about how much we waste today and how much prayer could be strengthening us for that final moment.
You see, what Jesus did for St. Francis He also extends to you and me. If we are properly disposed we could gain a plenary indulgence everyday. Think of all the souls that could be freed by such selfless actions as this.

“You mean I will have the say an Our Father and the Creed, go to Confession and receive Holy Communion?”

Confession and Holy Communion can cover more than one indulgence. We must pray for the intentions of the Holy Father and must be free from all attachment from sin. These are things we should be doing anyway.

When we come into Church it is like St. Francis going into this little Church. The little portion, the Portiuncula in Greenville. Texas is St. William’s. Before St. William’s it was St. Mary’s. There has been a little portion in Greenville for over a hundred years. Do you know why this Church is so special? Jesus is here visibly present and is with His mother and a whole host of angels.

“When is that going to happen? When will He and Our Lady and the angels be here”

In just a few minutes! At the Holy Mass Our Lord changes the bread and wine into His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity and we should always try to be free of mortal sin and live lives of grace so that we are always ready to receive Holy Communion. Anyone who is Catholic and free from mortal sin can approach the Altar and receive Holy Communion and Our Lord will take what little talents we have and multiply them. He will give us the grace to endure tremendous sufferings and pressures.

The reason why Our Lady and a heavenly host of angels appears every time Jesus does is because in heaven Our Lady, the angels and saints are adoring Jesus so wherever He is they are adoring Him. When He comes to this Altar in just a moment they will be adoring Him; we can’t see them. We may not be paying attention but they are!

We should do nothing else in Church except place ourselves at the feet of Jesus and ask Him to speak to our souls and to teach us as He taught St. Mary, who was also at His Feet. He can help us with that part about being anxious and upset about many things. If we waste time we don’t hear Him but for those who have time, like senior citizens, your time can be well spent for our nation and for the good of the world as well as yourselves. I say this to you senior citizens because you can pay attention and focus on these things better than we can. You can also serve as examples for the rest of us.

If I come to the end of a day and I have not spent any time at the feet of Jesus I am just clanking pots and pan in the kitchen with St. Martha. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be denied her. Why aren’t we choosing the better part?

When they’d had their fill, Jesus said to his Disciples, “Gather the fragments left over so that nothing will be wasted.”

In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit

Amen