‘To see clearly, choose well and act right’

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us a path in times of crisis, to bring to him whatever we have, without any conditions of perfection or certainty

July 18—17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings: 2 Kings 4: 42-44; Psalm 145, R: The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.; Ephesians 4: 1-6; Gospel—John 6: 1-15

Very early into this pandemic, I gave a recollection where I included a reflection of the anatomy of a crisis. I gave the basic flow from a normal situation to the anomaly or breakdown that leads to a crisis.

Then from the crisis I pointed out the necessary stage of the antithesis then the synthesis, leading to the new normal situation.

My main point for reflection was how we often gloss over the stage of antithesis, and how almost instinctively we rush to reestablish a new synthesis.

This quite often is why we never seem to get out of the rut and repeatedly seem to shoot ourselves in the foot with regard to crisis-causing issues.

Today’s Gospel is a perfect example of this process. We have the crisis of no food for thousands of hungry people who had gathered to listen to the Lord for hours—the crux of the crisis.

Jesus heightened the crisis by asking, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” This was what opened the crisis to the possible antitheses.

You have Philip who said, “no way,” and Andrew who put forth a possible option with the young lad with five loaves and two fish. Reluctantly, yes, but still an option (“... but what good are these for so many?”).

Jesus added an element to Andrew’s option, coming up with another antithesis—the multiplication of the loaves and fish—which provided the best choice for the synthesis.

In succeeding talks, which included the anatomy of a crisis, I added what Pope Francis said in his book, “Let Us Dream, A Path to a Better Future,” that there are crises like this pandemic that we cannot avoid, but we still have choices.

Our choice

The most basic is the choice to come out of the crisis. Then there is the choice to come out better or worse, but we can never come out the same. The key to coming out better is the choices available to us from among the antitheses.

Pope Francis in the same book gave the road map to the path: to see clearly, choose well and act right.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus likewise gives us a path in times of crisis. He invites us to bring to him whatever we have, our five loaves and two fish. He does this without any conditions of perfection or certainty, as Andrew reluctantly brought the five loaves and two fish to Jesus.

Through all this, Jesus gave us the underlying grace—compassion. In the synoptic versions of this story, Jesus was described as someone who was moved with pity for the crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

Then after preaching to them, fulfilling their spiritual and emotional hunger, He felt their physical hunger, to which He again responded with compassion. “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?”

‘Trick question’

This was the “trick question” Jesus posed to His disciples. Jesus’ invitation to us is an invitation to compassion in the midst of our current crisis.

He invites us to bring to Him our five loaves and two fish—whatever we have, even the little that we have.

“I see an overflow of mercy spilling out in our midst. Hearts have been tested. The crisis has called forth in some a new courage and compassion. Some have been sifted and have responded with the desire to reimagine our world; others have come to the aid of those in need in concrete ways that can transform our neighbor’s suffering.”

These small acts of kindness that Pope Francis cited are what fills him “with hope that we might come out of this crisis better.”

We can dare to dream and “reimagine our world” with what we can and desire to do, no matter how seemingly insignificant, especially for those who suffer from this pandemic.

To act right, bringing the little that we have—our two loaves and two fish—all that we have to Jesus will make the miracle possible.

The path of compassion is what makes miracles possible. The miracle of our coming out of this crisis better will happen—not just us as better people, but a better world where we stand in fraternity with those who suffer the most.