Sunday Next Before Advent, Sunday, November 22nd, 2015
The Gospel for today's Mass is taken from the Sixth Chapter of St. John's Gospel. In the passage chosen for today's Mass, we hear St. John's version of the feeding of the Five-Thousand. Now, keep in mind that Our Lord asked Philip where they could get so much food to feed all of those people. In essence, St. Philip protested that it would be impossible to feed so many people. St. Andrew stepped in and reported that a "lad had five barley loaves and two small fishes." But even St. Andrew himself immediately responded: ". . . . but what are they among so many?" Have you ever had the experience where you took evaluation of the situation and talked yourself out of doing it even before you gave it a try? In other words, you convinced yourself that it would never work and so you refused to even try it. You defeated yourself even before you started. That's why I say so often in my sermons that we are our own worst enemies. We stop ourselves from even giving it a try because, in our own mind, we are convinced that there is no way in the world it will work. And so we stop even before we begin. In today's passage, St. Philip immediately protests that they can't feed that many people and he only came up with a protest. St. Andrew at least made an attempt but even he second guessed his efforts and questioned how little food that was compared to how many people were present.
As evidenced in all the miracles we read in the Gospels, Our Blessed Lord shows time and time again how He changes the "ordinary" into the "extraordinary." Our Lord demonstrates that He can accomplish anything He sets His mind on. As Christians, we are called to place our trust in God. This is not always easy, is it? As human beings, we want to do things our way. As human beings, we have doubt if something is going to work or not. As human beings, we lack confidence, or knowledge, or know-how. It could be any number of reasons or combination of reasons. But the fact remains that as Christians we are called to place all our trust in God. "Let go and let God," as the old saying goes. Give your life to God. Place your life in His hands. Let God be the Lord and Master of your life. And turn your cares, and your burdens, and your troubles over to Him. This is not to say that you will not have cares and burdens and troubles in your life. But when you do, . . . . you will have God with you . . . . to guide you, to lead you, to be next to you. If Our Blessed Saviour fed the five thousand with just a few fish and loaves, I am convinced that He can perform multiple miracles in your life as well.
There are two opportunities to hear Mass on Sunday, November 22nd, 2015:
Join St. Margaret Church on Sunday, November 22nd, 2015 at 9:30 AM as we celebrate the Sunday Next Before Advent. Mass is celebrated at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis. Marquette Manor is located directly across the street from the St. Vincent Women's Hospital on Township Line Road.
Join Holy Spirit Church on Sunday, November 22nd, 2015 as we celebrate the Sunday Next Before Advent. Mass begins at 1:00 PM. We celebrate Mass at the beautiful, historic First Presbyterian Church located at 116 W. South Street in Greenfield, Indiana. The church is located at the corner of South and Pennsylvania streets near downtown Greenfield.
If you have not done so lately, invite someone to church with you. Invite a family member, a dear friend, a neighbor, a coworker. Invite someone to come to church with you. Let them experience the blessings of hearing the Word of God. Allow them to experience the blessing of being in fellowship with fellow-Christians gathering together as God's family. Let them experience the blessing of receiving the Precious Body and Blood at Communion time. Invite someone to church with you.
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