Don't Miss The Point
18th Ordinary Sunday
“Don’t miss the point”
– that was the strongest takeaway message I got from Friar Mike’s homily today.
He was alluding to today’s Gospel passage in which Jesus tells the people who have followed him to Capernaum: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life” (John 6:26-27). They saw the miracle of the Five Loaves and Two Fish (last week’s Gospel), but could only focus on the physical hunger, and not the spiritual hunger.
The first two readings are also about “not missing the point”.
In the First Reading (Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15), the Israelites, who have been freed from slavery in Egypt, have become – in today’s parlance – “hangry”. They grumble about the lack of food and start hankering to be back in Egypt, “missing the point” of what God has done for them.
In the Second Reading, St Paul exhorts us to “see the point” of following Jesus, which is to be transformed into a new, better being: “Put off your old nature…and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24).
I often miss the point, finding myself exactly like the people in Capernaum or the ungrateful Israelites, demanding “answers” to worldly problems – and frustrated when they aren’t answered. But as I grow older (and maybe wiser), I’ve learnt to “listen” to God’s prompting about what “the point” exactly is.
And it comes in mysterious ways. Sometimes, God sends you “messengers” you least expect. For example, I’ve been growing jaded after 17+ years as a teacher, wondering “What’s the point of this endless cycle of classes and marking?!?” Then, recently, as I got my form-class students to do some personal sharing, these normally serious, reticent “Science types” spoke openly and sincerely about their fears and failures, gratitude and hopes. And I realised: That’s the point! It’s not the classes and the marking – it’s having been blessed with the rare opportunity to influence 25 young adults to become more reflective, more expressive, more thankful for the truly important things in life.
At other times, God may light up a path that you have been hesitating to take. Recently, I’ve been thinking of being a “Robin Hood” tutor: teach those who can afford to pay the fees, then make time to give free tuition to those who can’t. Then yesterday, a teacher colleague asked me to join him in giving pro bonoguidance every Saturday morning to young children from challenging backgrounds. My first reaction: “I can’t! That’s when I catch up on the marking!” And then I realised: That’s the point! I’ll always have some form of marking to do, but I can’t keep using that as an excuse – especially not when helping such children is something I’ve felt such a strong calling to do. So I’ve said “yes” – and made a special prayer at Mass today for God to guide me in this service.
Shortly after I made that prayer, we sang the Communion hymn “Bread For The World”. And one line in it really strengthened my resolve: “May we who eat be bread for others”. We mustn’t just eat of God’s spiritual food; we must also, like the boy in last week’s Gospel, offer what little we have to others – and God will multiply it!
– by
Patrick Wong, 49+ (sitting in for my son Zachary, 15+, who’s ill)
