Pastor's Reflection

The Gospel for this Sunday is difficult to understand. It seems that Jesus is being mean. A woman comes to him with a desperate request. And Jesus repels her. How can He not be moved by her affliction?

This woman has followed Jesus and the disciples and sought healing for her daughter who is tormented by a demon. And the response of Jesus to her is first silence and then a sharp reply.

But the woman shows endurance. She doesn’t wander away and complain about the Lord. She doesn’t gossip about the Lord and His response to her. Instead, she shows even more virtue than before. His words to her were not in insult; they were a calling.

When the Lord does not seem to answer our prayers, as heartfelt and desperate as our prayers may be, it is not necessarily because we are praying the wrong way. It is also not because the Lord does not hear our prayers. It may seem to us that if He does not answer our prayers the way we want Him to, that He is rejecting us. He is not. He is calling us.

It can instead be that when we make such demands of the Lord, we allow our tendency to control things and our focus on getting results to drive us. When control and the focus on results are finally cast out, it is often only by repeated embracing of humility.

Jesus did not reject the earnest plea of the woman. He revealed the treasure hidden in its depths. And Jesus reveals the treasure: “O woman, great is thy faith” (Mt 15:28).If the woman had simply gotten the result she hoped for from Jesus, she would have never seen the treasure.

Prayer is not about getting something from God. It is about giving ourselves to God.

God has a treasure. He has chosen to hide it in the human heart. Only faith can find it.

God bless,
Msgr. Bransfield

Elijah had a lot going on. Things were desperate. There was a lot on his shoulders.

And in the midst of it all God calls Elijah to meet Him even more closely. So, where does Elijah go to meet God? He goes to a cave. He takes shelter there.

Where have you gone when you needed shelter? Elijah went to a cave. God then tells Elijah to go to the entrance of the cave. God is going to pass by the entrance to the cave.

Three things then happen.

• There is a strong and heavy wind that rends the mountain. God is not in the wind.
• There is an earthquake. God is not in the earthquake.
• There is a fire. God is not in the fire.

Then there is a tiny, whispering sound. That’s the sign of God’s presence. Elijah hides his face and stands at the entrance of the cave to meet God.

To enter the cave is to return to the depth of the earth. Elijah returns to the depths of the mud of the earth. It is a return to the moment preceding creation – when God took mud from the earth to create man.

And then creation …

• The strong, heavy wind that rends the mountain is the Spirit hovering over the waters at the original creation.
• The earthquake is the separation of the land as happened in the original creation.
• And the fire is the flaming sword of the cherubim angel who guards even today the way to the tree of life.

And then the tiny whispering sound is God blowing the breath of life into the nostrils of man.

There is so much we want God to do for us. The list of things we have for God to do can be a burden that weighs us down. It can block us from actually meeting God.

Instead, we can take a step back. Step into the depths of where you and I come from. Let’s allow God to create us. Let’s breathe in and adore the One who bestows the tiny whispering sound into the depths of our being.

God bless,

Msgr. Brian Bransfield

He has just heard of the death of John the Baptist. Death. Jesus has come to conquer death. And now death has taken a horrific move toward the Lord. His cousin has been killed. John the Baptist leaped in his mother’s womb at the presence of Jesus in the womb of Mary. John later baptized Jesus. And now this.

Jesus felt the pain of the death of John. The Lord was hurt. He withdraws, but the crowds follow Him. And when the Lord sees the crowd, His heart is moved with compassion for them. In his own hurt, the Lord makes room for those who are exhausted and spent. And there were 5,000 in the crowd.

The Lord takes five loaves and two fish. The apostles probably wondered why Jesus was taking seven loaves and two fish. For five thousand people? The apostles had other ideas as to what would work. But Jesus goes deeper. How? He said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who then gave the loaves to the crowds. Jesus involves the disciples in His gift of bread to those who are hungry. He invites the disciples to go deep with Him. They are part of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves.

Jesus invites you and me to be part of the miracle. We may not be sure what miracle. We may have another solution, another idea, or another way forward. But then Jesus invites us. He invites us to part of the miracle He is planning – not necessarily the miracle we want or envision.

How do we make ourselves ready for Jesus? Meet Him more deeply. How do we do that? Partake of the five loaves and two fish. Five loaves and two fish. Five and two. That adds up to seven. The seven Sacraments. We meet Jesus in the Sacraments. It may seem that there is so much going on in our lives and there is so much we need to do that have other ideas as to what will work.

But be like the apostles. Accept what Jesus offers – the Sacraments. With Jesus, make room for those who are exhausted. Go deeper with Jesus. And await the unexpected abundance. Go deeper with Jesus.

God bless,
Msgr. Brian Bransfield