WHAT GOOD IS THAT?
Author: July 24, 2021
Andrew said, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and
two fish; but what good are these for so many?” What good are these? What good are these? Isn’t that the worst question that a
Christian disciple could ask?
I spent this morning at the burial of my distant cousin, Sister
Colleen Byron, who was a sister of St. Francis in Rochester for 71 years, and
who died seven months ago at the age of 90. At the time of her death, nobody
could gather because of the virus. So, we waited. Sister Colleen was a high
school Latin teacher, and a spiritual director, and a minister of hospitality
at the Mayo Clinic and its hospitals, and a gentle friend, and mentor, and
encourager. But as her Franciscan
Sisters remembered her at the grave today, they said that her greatest
suffering in life was in not recognizing her own goodness, her own holiness,
her own gifts to others. Everybody else
did, but she struggled to believe it.
And Andrew said, “what good are these for so many?” What good am I in such a big world, and in
such a big church, and a big mission for so many? What good am I? And as he did so often, Jesus
today in the Gospel of John posed a question to his followers in order to “test
them.” He said to his friend Philip, “where can we buy enough food for them to
eat?” It was a trick question, because,
as Jesus already knew, the answer did not involve buying anything. It involved
a considered look into resources that were already there, that they already
had, and believing that it would not only be enough, but far more than what was
needed.
What good are these meager gifts of mine? What good am I to the mission of Christ?
Anyone who has ever spent any amount of time with holy people recognizes this
incredible paradox: the Saints among us
who are the source of so much grace and encouragement and love among others are
the very people who wonder if they have been good and faithful enough, whether
they have given generously enough, whether what they have offered is sufficient
enough. It grieves me, but it does not surprise me that Sister Colleen Byron
was nagged by that question throughout her long and beautiful life.
“What good are these?”, asked Andrew. A little bread and a couple of fish. What
good are these? We could add today such ordinary things like:
- A listening ear when someone is suffering - what good is that?
- A cup of coffee when a neighbor feels all alone?what good is that?
- A word of Thanks and love when another person feels ignored?what good is that?
- A gesture of forgiveness to end a fight?what good is that?
- Just showing up to an important gathering?what good is that?
- A promise of prayer for someone in a dire situation?what good is that?
What good are these? What
good are these? Without God’s grace they
may not be much good. But we disciples
are the ones who claim to believe that nothing we do in God’s name is done
without the help of God’s grace, which is far bigger and wider than anything we
control. We’re just the spigot.
Well into her 80s, Sister Colleen was a greeter, and a
cleaner-upper, and a taker-out-of-the-trash for the sake of families staying at
the Ronald McDonald House at the Mayo Clinic. “What good is that?” St. Andrew
may have asked--so little, and so inadequate. Well it’s not my good, or hers,
or anybody else’s. It’s God’s, in and
through the seemingly simple and unremarkable things that we are given to do
each day.
- Through our work
- Through our parenting
- Through our studying
- Through our praying
- Through our serving
- Through our visiting
- Through however it is that we care for others, especially the most vulnerable.
And I’d like to put out a special appeal to our teenagers and
young adults here in this regard. Do you
really believe that your gifts and your witness to faith actually makes a
difference in the greater unfolding of God’s reign? Does that question, “What
good am I?” raise an echo in your soul? If so, this gospel is meant especially
for you.
Jesus in today’s gospel assures us that we already have everything
we need to be His effective agents and servants. We struggle to believe it, but He does not.
And more than that, when we fail to act upon the grace that is ours in and
through the seemingly ordinary activities of our lives, we are being less than
what our baptism has summoned us to be.
“What good are these things for so many?” Andrew asked. Answer: Way, way more than we think. God
rest you Sister Colleen, and God challenge all the rest of us!
|