The WORD in other words (2006) by Fr Jerome Cayetano SVD – University of San Carlos, Cebu
Monday 18th Week in Ordinary Time
John Wesley’s rule of life was to save all he could and give all he could. When he was at Oxford, he had an income of 30 dollars a year. He lived on 28 dollars and gave 2 dollars away. When his income increased to 60, 100 and 120 a year, he still lived on 28 dollars and gave the balance away.
The Accountant General for Household Silverware demanded of him a report of his silverware. His reply was, “I have two silver teaspoons in London and two at Bristol. That is all the silverware I have at present, and I shall not buy anymore while so many around me want bread.”
The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves may also be a miracle of compassion and generosity. However compassion and generosity only proceed from another miracle: the miracle of knowing that one has enough to live by. This miracle is being like John Wesley, or more being like Christ the “Son of Man who had nowhere to lay His head” but whose compassionate touch, compassionate words turned everything into a miracle.
Sad to say, having enough is not in the vocabulary of today’s consumerist lifestyle. More is. Greed is. Today’s generosity is sometimes tame and lame, because it doesn’t hurt so much unlike Philip’s gamble, “Five loaves and two fish are ALL we have here.”
