“What
do I have to do?” That is a question that many people seem to like
to ask from time to time. Its use spans many different activities
and walks of life. You might hear it asked in school, “What do I
have to do to pass this class?” or “to get an ‘A’ in this
class?” Upon finishing high school or college we might hear
someone ask, “What do I have to do to get this job?” Later on
the question may turn to, “What do I have to do to get a raise or a
promotion?” Even among Christians, it is not unheard of to hear
people ask the question, “What do I have to do to get into Heaven?”
On
the surface, these questions might seem to be fairly normal questions
requesting typical information. However, when you think about these
questions, you can see that they are not really asking about how to
be a good Catholic, or how to be a good employee or student.
Actually it is asking for the least amount of information. When we
ask, “What do I have to do…?” what we are really asking is,
“What is the least amount of work that I need to do in order to get
what I want?” We are actually looking for the minimum of the
requirements: “What is the minimum amount of points I need to get
90%?” “What is the minimum work needed to get that job or that
promotion?” “How many prayers do I have to say or how many
Masses do I have to go to in order to be ‘good’ with God?”
There
is a related question that I have heard several times as a priest.
People want to know, at what point in the Mass do you have to come in
by in order for it to count? In other words, how late is too late
for Mass? The simple answer is: there is no specific time set that a
person has to be at Mass. I have been told that before the Second
Vatican Council, when Mass was still all in Latin, people were taught
about a specific time in the Mass that you had to be there by in
order to fulfill your Sunday obligation. No such time has been set
for the current Mass. Rather, the encouragement is for all people to
be there for the entirety of Mass. The temptation for most people
when they are given a minimum requirement is to only do the minimum.
If the Church set a time that you have to be at Mass in order for it
to count, many people would wait until that moment to come in. By
not setting that minimum, we are simply saying we want the people at
the whole Mass. Yes, things happen that make us run late from time
to time. Not a big deal. But if we are late all the time, maybe we
should re-think our Sunday mornings so we can be in the church from
the beginning of the opening hymn. The same can be said for the end
of the Mass. Sometimes there are emergencies that require us to
leave early on rare occasions. But if we are leaving early every
week, there is something very wrong going on. We are asked to be
here for the entire Mass: not to come in at the Gloria or leave right
after Communion or before the final hymn, but to be here from the
first hymn until the last hymn is sung. It’s one hour out of our
whole week, can't we at least do that?
Now,
to be fair, not everyone is interested in only doing the minimum
requirements, whether it is about the spiritual life or our day to
day earthly life. Those who particularly enjoy something or who have
a particular passion for something will often go well beyond the
normal call of duty, so to speak. We all need a reminder every so
often to encourage us to not just settle for the bare minimum.
Especially when it comes to the spiritual life, going beyond the
minimum requirements helps show our love for God.
Our
readings today illustrate how God's love goes well beyond the minimum
requirements. In the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, God is
inviting the people to come back to Him using the image of a grand
banquet. The people of Judah had angered God by worshiping false
gods and not following God's Commandments. Their punishment was a
long exile in the land of Babylon, in modern day Iraq. Now God is
inviting them back to His loving embrace, offering forgiveness and an
over abundance of grace. There is also a physical aspect to this as
they were allowed to return to their homeland soon after this.
Listen
to what God is telling us. First we are told to come to the water.
This is a fine commodity in desert region. Then we are told to
receive grain and wheat without cost. Things are getting generous.
Then we are told we can drink wine and milk without cost as well.
Now things are getting lavish. Why focus all our wealth and strength
on things of this earth that will only waste away, God asks us.
Focus on God, and we will have everything that we need, plus so much
more! These images of free food and choice wine and milk represent,
not just good, not just physical luxuries, but also Heavenly graces
given freely.
Moving
on to the Gospel, we hear Matthew's version of the feeding of the
five thousand. In front of all these witnesses (well over five
thousand including the women and children) Christ Himself multiplies
the food. Now these loaves are probably small barley loaves that
look more like diner roles. The fish are also small, not much bigger
than a perch, maybe smaller. That meal was enough for two people at
best: nothing too fancy here. With this great miracle of multiplying
the food, however, these five thousand-plus men, women, and children
are satisfied and there are still leftovers! This is not the lavish
banquet that Isaiah described before, but it still helps us see the
generous heart of God. He could have given each of them just enough
to get them to the next village; He could have had Jesus end His
curing of the sick sooner so they could have departed earlier in the
day. Instead, He gives what the people needed, and then some, just
as the prophet had foretold.
God
gives us an abundance of His love and grace. How will we respond so
that we can worship Him in thanksgiving and praise Him in what we do?
Let us not settle for what we have to do, but what we want to do out
of our love for Him.
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