Good News

Homily for the Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A
Sometimes, we just need some good news. When the newspaper headlines cry out that unemployment in the United States is at a four-year high, we just need some good news. When soldiers and innocent citizens die in the hotspots of the world, and children die on our own streets, we just need some good news. When the lives of celebrities become the most talked-about topic at the office, we need some good news that really makes a difference us. Even when we’re happy that gas is below $4.00 a gallon, we need some really good news. And today, we’re in luck. Because this is a good news day. Even if your own life is full of troubles, and the world isn’t much better, we can all find good news in today’s readings.

Take Isaiah to start – if you’re thirsty, come to the water! If you don’t have any money, come and be fed. All we have to do is come to the Lord, and he will feed us, he will guide us, he will nourish us. God will take care of everything we need – now that is good news!

But it doesn’t end there – listen to what St. Paul says to the Romans – God loves us so much that there is nothing that can separate us from that love. It’s so amazing, it’s almost over the top – not death, not famine, not anything from our past, not any kind of anguish can ever separate us from God’s love – now that is good news!

And finally the gospel – that familiar story of the feeding of the multitude. Not only does Christ feed the crowd, but there is so much left over that it fills twelve baskets. Christ wants to give us not just the bare minimum, but we wants to give us an abundance – with leftovers – now that is good news!

It sounds almost too good to be true. Especially when we look at our own lives and realize that we our not always deserving of God’s love; when we look at our communities and our world and see people turning away from God, or who don’t even recognize that God is here. It seems too good to be true when we hear these promises, when we hear that nothing can separate us from God’s love, that God can give us blessings in abundance, that he will feed us and guide us always. But it is true, for us who have faith, who recognize God’s love, this is good news indeed. And we are desperately in need of some good news.

But there’s a catch – there’s always a catch. For God’s love to be effective in our lives – for this good news to make any difference – we have to do something with it. God’s goodness to us is like a present – neatly wrapped in a box with shiny wrapping paper and a big bow on top, with a name tag made out just for us. We could very easily just let it sit there and admire the pretty paper or the beautiful bow – isn’t it nice that God decided to give us something, we might say. I wonder what’s inside? But it’s wrapped so nicely, I don’t want to ruin the wrapping paper by opening it up! If all we do is sit around and talk about God’s many gifts – if all we do is talk about the good news we hear today – then we might as well send it back, because a gift isn’t what it is supposed to be until it is unwrapped and used. But if we unwrap God’s gift, if we take the good news and put it to work, if we tell everyone we know about this great gift we have received, then God’s love will really live in us, and it will spread through us. And that will really be good news.