A Message from Dee Bernhardt,
Director of Campus Ministry
How much is enough?
This question has plagued human beings since creation. Adam and Eve had the whole garden of Eden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but it wasn’t enough. Jonah heard the voice of God, but it wasn’t enough. God promised to speak directly through the mouth of Jeremiah; it wasn’t enough. This week’s readings speak to us about what is enough; only it isn’t a what; it’s a who.
In the reading from the 2nd Book of Kings, Elisha receives twenty loaves and needs to feed one hundred people. Although he adds no other food to his hospitality effort, all are fed, and some are left over. What makes the impossible possible isn’t Elisha’s talent for hunting, gathering, or cooking. The great faith of Elisha that God’s word will be fulfilled and that God will take care of the people sets the stage for providence and abundance. Drawing upon this faith, his love for the people God has sent to him, and his hope in God’s promises, Elisha models true discipleship for all of us.
Psalm 145 echoes this, calling us to respond in gratitude to the provision of the Lord. Again, not for the things but to our gracious and loving God, who seeks to satisfy our every desire. Do we really believe this? I don’t think so. The second reading lays out a plan for us to live in a manner worthy of the call of Christ – with humility and gentleness, patience, in unity with one another. Once again, respecting each one’s dignity and working together as one body and one Spirit as disciples in Christ. These attributes and attitudes align us with Christ so that we can hear and respond to Him. In that recognition of God’s providence and response of gratitude, we become holy, and that is enough.
The gospel brings out an even more convicting message about the nature of “enough.” Being human, we normally try to handle life without God’s intervention. After all, God gave us our talents and gifts so that we could negotiate life’s challenges, right? Jesus turns to Philip, who, completely overwhelmed, reminds Jesus that his limited human provisions clearly fall short of the need at hand. Andrew reflects on Elisha’s followers from the first reading. He offers the five loaves and two fish, the “not enough,” which miraculously feed a crowd of over 5,000 people! Who made the difference? Jesus and His Presence. Once again, faith, hope, and love prevail, and everyone finds sustenance with fragments left over.
When we follow our own inclinations, when we take on the impossible alone, we cannot be enough. The standards of this world, our society, and perhaps even our own desires lead us to believe that we can and should be capable of standing alone, address the issues, provide the answers. Our call to follow Jesus requires us to recognize that only God can be enough. With God, all things are possible; with God, we are enough, with fragments left over.
Dee Bernhardt
Director of Campus Ministry