When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
"Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted."
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.
Working as a teen in my uncle's piping and plumbing shop, I learned something about America's valuation of time. It's expensive. And material things are cheap. It was often more efficient to throw something away than to repair and reuse it. There is a mile-long supply chain of identical items ready to replace anything.
But time is valuable and there is never enough of it. Eventually, as I was plunged into ministering to a demanding church, I found that I had more money than time. I was about to swipe my credit card through a machine one day, to pump air in my tires, when an old fellow happened to walk by. He said, "There's free air right across the street!" I said, "Thanks, but I haven't the time."
Recently, in conversation with a friend, we both admitted that a week ago seems like last year. There's so little time to pause and reflect on what just happened. As a chaplain in the hospital, I often met people with whom I'd met just last week. It would take a while to remember the face and the conversation.
Jesus counseled his disciples in today's gospel, "Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted."
The Church, with its daily, weekly, and annual cycles of prayer, offers opportunities to remember, revalue, and cherish our lives. Where was I last Easter? Was I in a good place? The Sacrament of Penance especially urges us to recollect. We repent of past sins, especially those we'd sooner forget; and we thank God for reminding us of debts unpaid, injuries unhealed, and atonement which must be made. We also thank God for his wonderful works that have already righted wrongs and turned trauma to freedom from fear.
The faith that celebrates the wonderful works of God gathers the fragments of our lives and sees them in the light of Easter. Wonder-struck by what the Lord has done for us, we appreciate all the more the marvelous deeds of the One who is present for every person. We gather the human fragments because everyone's life is wonderful; none should be wasted.
In his encyclical, Laudato Si, Pope Francis has shown us how the waste of the Earth's environment is the waste of human life. Both come from our greed, fear, and mistrust. When we trash forests, deserts, and oceans we waste the humans who live in those places.
Exploitation cries in alarm, "We haven't the time! It's not cost efficient. Until recycling is done on a massive scale we can't afford it! It's just not realistic."
But there are fewer fragments when we purchase less and waste less; and when we stop to gather the moments of our life and remember how brief, precious, and irreplaceable they are.
Today's gospel began with Jesus's concern for the people who had come to the wilderness to hear his teaching. They risked much to be with him; he could not abandon them to their own scanty reserves of trust and generosity. Rather, he dug into his faith, thanked God for what he had, and shared it with everyone.
There is still more than enough to go around when we're willing to share.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.