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| Loaves and Fishes, by Laura James Art |
We heard in the Gospel this week of the miracle of the
loaves and fishes. The miracle being, the sharing of the food, amongst the
many. The many had been waiting with Jesus for three days, thousands of
people "the lame the maimed and blind, the mute and many others."[1]
Waiting, waiting with Jesus, sat together, in union and in
hunger. The miracle surely is not only in the food multiplying, but in the
waiting of thousands of people, waiting for the blind to see, mute to talk, the
lame to walk; thousands of people waiting in hope and faith and hunger.
Pope Francis calls us to be aware of the charade of
celebrating Christmas this year. He says that with our world so broken,
by climate change, war, poverty and greed, "We should ask for the grace to
weep for this world which does not recognize the path to peace… God weeps,
Jesus weeps."[2]
A path away from peace is a path to making us all lame, mute, maimed, and blind; such a path is not far from our own feet.
We could despair at the state of the world, at the charade that is looming, but first we have a choice. Just like those waiting with Jesus, hungry and broken, we could chose to stay. We can and must choose the path of peace, hope and love; we can all choose to wait.
A path away from peace is a path to making us all lame, mute, maimed, and blind; such a path is not far from our own feet.
We could despair at the state of the world, at the charade that is looming, but first we have a choice. Just like those waiting with Jesus, hungry and broken, we could chose to stay. We can and must choose the path of peace, hope and love; we can all choose to wait.
I am reminded of the words of Jean Vanier,
"Each one of us is waiting. Creation is waiting,
humanity in its totality is waiting. But sometimes we forget that Jesus is also
waiting. Jesus is waiting and sometimes, we may imagine him, in tears, as
he weeps over this broken humanity saying 'If you had but known the gift of
God. If you had but known the message of peace."[3]
Advent is a time of waiting, a time to celebrate the waiting of an Emmanuel, God with us. As we prepare a path, we are called, more so than ever before, that this path must be one of peace.
We must, moreover we need to be mindful of how we, the broken, forgotten, the unwanted, are invited to wait alongside Jesus to be freed, nourished and welcomed, in love, hope and peace.
