An new opportunity presents itself – but how to get the resources for it? A problem that often comes up –Jesus and his disciples are no exception.
Jesus has a new ministry initiative and wants to provide some food to those who have come to the ministry event across the Sea of Galilee – so he has a meeting with his finance council to present his plan for this ministry, and there are a couple of objections from the council to Jesus’ plan, objections from Philip and Andrew.
First Philip objects – There is no money in the budget for this initiative, - “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of hem to have a little” – it’s a nice thought but we have to follow the budget. If it’s not in the budget - we can’t do it.
Philip is looking to the budget to know how to do ministry. If its not in the budget it can’t be done – but this is the wrong priorities, for the budget is not the most important thing – The budget is important – after all the fuel bill needs to be paid, lights need to be kept on, and anyone who owns a house – especially an old house- knows how expensive building maintenance can be – and no one likes unexpected expenses, so planning out the budget is important – but the budget is not the goal – the mission is the goal. One does not shape the mission around the budget, but the budget around the mission. If the budget does not work towards the mission – the budget should be changed.
The questions then become what the mission is – For Jesus it is to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God and bring salvation to the world by his death and resurrection. When faced with a question about feeding the crowd, Philip could have asked how feeding this crowd helps achieve Jesus’ mission and then tried to adjust the budget to help achieve the mission.
This is true not only for Jesus and his disciples, but also for the parish and for households as well. The parish has a Vision Statement – “Encountering God’s Mercy, Hope, and Salvation, we give thanks through Eucharist and Works of Mercy” and we have Purpose Statement – “Having heard God’s word we help others encounter Him” – These defining the mission of the parish. The budget should serve this mission.
And for our households budget as well – what is the mission of the family and how does the family budget help towards that end. The budget is at the service of the mission. When a need is found, or a family wants to do something – how can the budget serve the mission?
However, that can take a lot of resources– and there might not be enough, no matter how the numbers are worked – To buy food for the crowds it would of taken two-hundred days wages - and if only a little can be given, what difference does it make – is it just not worth it – Here is other objection made at Jesus’ finance council meeting, this time by Andrew.
Andrew has done better than Philip – he has not looked at the budget and seen that it is not in the budget and said no – but has looked to the mission – and has looked to see what resources can be used to achieve Jesus’ goal – A boy had come forward to offer his five loaves and two fish. Here is some food to help feed the crowd - But that is not near enough – as Andrew notes – “five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” and he seems right – this is not near enough to actually feed the crowd of five-thousand. Given that, Andrew seems to think that it can’t be done - we can’t achieve it, not enough resources - Let’s not try – But little things do matter - and Jesus can work with only a little
Jesus does indeed work with this little offering of loaves and fish – he feeds five thousand, there is 12 baskets left over – ending with more than they started with, a great abundance –it is true that we don’t see that this kind of miracle of multiplication happening regularly today – but this not the greatest miracle Jesus does with only a little. The multiplication points to something greater – For Jesus “took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them” – Very similar to what he does at the last supper when instituting the Eucharist – and compared to the Eucharist – feeding five-thousand is nothing.
The Eucharist, something that we celebrate regularly, one way we give thanks for Encounter God’s Mercy, Hope, and Salvation according to our Vision Statement – simple bread and wine become the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ –food for the soul, the source and summit of the Christian life – an encounter with Christ – all from a small offering. This is the greater miracle and a place of encountering Christ.
“Having heard God’s Word, we help others encounter him” – The purpose statement of the parish – The crowd of five thousand encountered Christ by means of bread and fish – today one place it happens is at Mass – and if we take the purpose statement of the parish seriously, we want to help others encounter Christ – This can be done with small offerings if we trust in Christ focused on the mission – but this does not necessarily come out of great committees – the loaves and fish came from a boy, not the disciples.
It does come out of families, managing their resources focused on the mission, not the budget – even if those resources are small, through a small offering of support a crowd of five-thousand was fed - the bread and wine at Mass is a small offering, and we receive the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ. Small offerings, if focused on the mission, can make a difference – for we know that with a little, Christ can do a lot.