when miracles happen - 17th Sunday B

When does a miracle of provisions happen?  The first reading for this Sunday is composed only of two verses but it gives us I believe the conditions that make miracles of provisions happen.  What are these conditions?  There are four.

First. A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, twenty barley loaves made from the first fruits and grain.  There was no obligation on his part to provide Elisha with food.  There was not even a mention that Elisha needed food.  The man who was not even named went to Elisha to give him food.  A generous person doesn't have to be named, he offers to give not because there is a need, he gives not because he is obligated to give, nor does he give because he is bothered by his conscience.  No.  He just gave.  Nobody even asked from him, but he gave.  He was generous, it was automatic.  There was a miracle here because there was a man who was generous. Miracles always begin with an act of generosity. 

Second.  The unnamed generous man gave the bread and grain to Elisha, and Elisha shared it to the people saying “Give it to the people to eat.”  When Elisha was given gifts of bread and grain, he did not immediately grab them from the man and hide them in his room.  He did not keep it in his refrigerator or hide it in his locker.  No.  He immediately said “give it to the people, they are hungry.”  There was a miracle here because Elisha did not think only of himself.  Rather his immediate reaction was to share what he has with others, he shared even the gifts given to him.

Third.  When Elisha told the servant give it to the people to eat, the servant protested – how can 20 loaves feed 100 men?  That was the reaction of the servant.  The servant did not say, let us hush this up, let us give this only to our friends.  No, he did not say that nor did it cross his mind.  What the servant became passionate about was, how can we feed everyone with so little?  How can we share this with everyone?  The servant was thinking of equity –he was concerned about fairness, about justice, he had the whole community in mind.  So a miracle happened here because the servant was thinking about everyone, he was concerned about everyone, and not just his friends or his allies or those near to him, he was concerned for the good of all.

Fourth, with the protest of the servant noted Elisha insisted by repeating his instruction – “give it to the people to eat.”  But Elisha added to this instruction saying, “for thus says the Lord, they shall eat and have some left.”  Now, it is no longer just a few bread that the man gave in his generosity to Elisha.  Now it is not just the loaves of bread which Elisha wanted to share with others.  Now it is not just the concern of the servant that all must be fed equally.  Now it is God’s concern and God’s command that all must be fed.  When God was allowed to intervene and when God’s command was heeded, the little that they have, fed everyone to satisfaction and even produced a surplus. 

Generosity, sharing, desiring and working for equity and allowing God his rightful place in our lives, allowing God to intervene – this is how you make a miracle. 

I have to admit that the most burdensome duty of the rector is to send out people – that includes seminarians, teachers, formators and workers.  I have done all that and the thought has never given me any happiness.  But there are happy memories too, miraculous stories when I have asked the best and the brightest in class to help the weakest and the slowest in class.  I believe the Grade 10 can still remember when there were negotiations at the rector’s office for the brightest to help the weakest in class – “may iban pa gani nga nagasiling – indi lang ako sa iya der, akbudlay na sa iya der, sa iban lang ako der i-assign.”  Also with the grade 9. Sometimes I have to bribe, many times I have to threaten.  Grade 8 - this is still to be seen.  College – there were many – but some flopped, some indeed made a difference after sometime.  But miracles did happen, changes happened, unexpected it may seem at the outset, but it happened precisely because of the values I mentioned awhile ago.

This week with the college I would like to reflect with you on the Pope’s Encyclical Laudato Si taking also these four qualities that make a miracle the springboard for our reflection.  Laudato si can only make sense and can become doable and practical when these four qualities are recovered in our person and in our community.  It is after all an encyclical entitled on Care for our Common Home. This encyclical is not just about the environment although it zeros in on the environment – but it is above all is a way of thinking, a way of living based on the premise that we are living in a common home.