Jesus never came to earth to be popular. Our faith isn’t one that panders to what is nice, it looks for what is good, holy and right, even if those truths are uncomfortable in our contexts. Jesus asks if the Apostles want to leave as well and Peter answers with incredible insight; “Lord, who shall we go to? You have the message of eternal life, and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God."
But Mary doesn’t do that. She is joyful and creates this beautiful song of praise. Mary goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth and shared this gift with her. “Why am I so honoured, that the mother of my Lord should visit me?”. Mary isn’t thinking of herself, she already knows that this child is not ‘for her’, He is for us all.
“What if?” is such a powerful pair of words. It can be so crushing. What if I lose my job? What if she/he never loves me? What if I don’t get into that class? What if I fail? Two words that can ruin a day. But that’s not all they are. “What if” need not be a bad pair with doom and destruction in their wake. What if has the power to make our lives beautiful. They are words that can lead us to dream and plan a new vision.
In this Gospel, Jesus refers to Moses and his people eating manna in the desert when they wandered for forty years. God provided this heavenly food to sustain them - after all, other food would spoil and you can’t grow much in the desert anyway! It’s the same for us. In our world we can often plant many seeds that bear no fruit, or find many things we’ve put our hopes in spoil or go rotten. It can feel like a real desert out here.
Every day the world reminds us how small we are; how seemingly insignificant we are and our actions are. But not with Jesus. His coming paved the way for us to reach the many. How? He gave thanks (John 6:11). He had faith that his Father would provide. He knew that his humble actions would reach the hearts of the 5000 and beyond.
This gospel feels at first like a lesson in good self-care, because the disciples are so flat out they’re not eating properly and Jesus, the wise leader that he is, steps in and takes them away for a break. But when Jesus sees the lost, hurting, confused, broken and tired crowd who beat him and the disciples to their getaway, he can’t help but look after them.
At the end of every Mass, I am challenged by the invitation from the celebrant. "Go and proclaim the Word of the Lord!" How often do I actively proclaim the Word straight from the Gospel? Sure, I live a Catholic life and love speaking about the faith when I can, but it's hard to specifically proclaim the Word!
The people in Jesus’ hometown were comfortable too. So set in their ways, that Jesus could do no work there. Nothing! Jesus couldn’t perform miracles because the people in the town wouldn’t let him! They did not believe he was who he said he was, they sneered at his radical ideas and slumped back into their status quo sofa, and were not changed.
