Listening to the gospel today, listening closely to the words of Christ, we can hear that he has left us, his disciples, with a mission. 

As Jesus was tending to the masses, the disciples came to him and they told him that the people were hungry and that they should send them away because they needed to look for food. But Christ said to them something shocking: “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.”

Now we know that Christ fed the 5000. We have all heard many times the story, we know the miracle of the fish and the loaves. But those words, if we listen to them, if we reflect upon them, we can see that in those words Christ wanted the disciples to feed those who had come.  But what exactly did that mean? Christ knew that they themselves could not produce food out of nowhere. He did not expect that from them.  No.  What Christ was telling them, what Christ tells us now, was to feed them spiritually.

The crowds had gathered that day because Jesús had been offering them something which they were not used to receiving. Hope. The reading comments on Him having pity on them and curing their sick.  The people had followed him with the hope of having their ailments cured. The people had come looking for a way to become whole again.

In our world these days, there are so many people looking for something, for someone to follow, looking for someone to feed their needs, someone to heal them and make them complete. What we find more often than not are people, leaders, role models, who lack that which Christ possessed: compassion, love, understanding. As followers of Christ, he gives to us these things, gives to us charity, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, among other fruits of the Holy Spirit.  He gives these to us as He gave the blessed loaves and fish to the disciples, who then shared them with the people.

That is our mission: That which we have received from Christ, we must pass on to those who need to be fed spiritually.

As I prepared for this homily, as I reflected upon the gospel, I had a night in which I would wake every hour or so.  A restless night it was. Restless nights I am no stranger to but this was different, because every time I woke I had a curious thought on my mind.

“We need more shepherds for the sheep and more defenders of the faith.” That is what I would be thinking when I woke. 

Christ we know is the Good Shepherd, the one whose voice we hear and follow.  Before He ascended into heaven, he had appointed shepherds to tend his flock until he came back.  These are the bishops and the priests.

They serve Christ now by being moved with pity for the communities they minister to.  The curing of the sick which they perform is that which is found in the sacraments, found in the confessional or the anointing of the sick.

But what does that have to do with one restless night that an old man might have had? Well, as the bishops and the priests are the shepherds of the sheep -- and mind you, we do need more men to stand up and to stand strong to become a shepherd of those in need. We need more priests. We need more priests -- So, as the bishops and priests are the shepherds, then I must be, we must be, the defenders of the faith, we must be the ones “giving some food” to those who come searching for the hope offered by Christ.

And how do we do that?  We take what we have received from Christ and we give that to those in need.  We share with them what He has given us.

With the current state of the world, with the coronavirus keeping many from the church, we find ourselves in a similar situation as the disciples in the gospel.  There are many hungry people.  In Mark’s gospel account of the feeding of the 5000, the people have been separated into smaller groups.  Does that look familiar today?

Our task now, as followers of Christ, is to bring sustenance, support, encouragement, love, compassion, to those who have been segregated by this virus.  We must defend the faith by bringing the faith to those not able to go to church. We have the tools to do this.

How many of the groups and ministries in our church are still meeting?  How many are still gathering for bible study, for prayer, for spiritual growth?

If we are not, ask yourself this: Why not?  We have the tools because we are Catholic.  We have the completeness of the truth.  There is nothing about our faith which we cannot learn about and pass on.  We have the technology to reach the people, to attend to small groups. It is time for us to discard that notion that we cannot teach or learn how to conduct a video conference to participate in a bible timeline study.

We are never too old to learn and never too young to teach.

All we need is the love of Christ to move us. Paul points this out very explicitly in the second reading today. What will separate us from Christ’s love he asks. Not anguish or distress or persecution or famine.  The coronavirus will not, neither will social distancing or face masks or our fear of teaching or using a computer. Nothing, not even death can separate us from Christ’s love. 

So let’s spread that love.  Let’s feed the people.  Leaders of the varying groups in St. James, look into continuing your ministry via video, via email, via text even. There are many ways to communicate these days. Do what Christ said, “Give them some food yourselves.”

For those of you wanting to teach, if you know your faith, teach it. If you have taken a bible study, completed a course of formation, then teach it to others. Teach what the church teaches, teach what you have learned from the church. Do what Christ said, “Give them some food yourselves.”

We are getting ready for a new year of PSR. Register your children and savor the studies with them, learn with them.  Form a group of parents to study the lessons together via video.  Be proactive in the faith. Do what Christ said, “Give them some food yourselves.”

So take a look around.  Look at all the empty spaces here.  This means that there are people outside, away from their mother church.  They are in their homes, perhaps waiting for the disciples to reach out to them. They are in their homes, perhaps anxious, nervous, frightened, alone, feeling abandoned, maybe even hopeless.  It is our job to reach out to them.  It is our responsibility to tend to them now.  We must do as Christ asked of his disciples.  We must take what he has given us and share this with the people of this community, with our family. 

We must do what Christ said, and give them food ourselves.