+Blase J. Cupich Readings: Acts 5:34-42; Jn 6:1-15 “Where can we find enough food to give them something to eat?” That is the question of Jesus. That is a question that our jubilarians, whom we celebrate today, have faced throughout these 50 and 25 years of their ministry. Over their years of service they have had to respond to an ever-changing landscape. Pastoral practices, which once nourished the people, in time became unsatisfying and unnourishing. Resources, once counted on as reliable, diminished. “Where can we find enough food to give them something to eat?” That is the question in the Gospel but also the question that these jubilarians have struggled with over their years of ministry. The world has changed so rapidly and so has the church in this 25 and 50 years hence. So much of what they depended on before has been uprooted. And yet, through their nimbleness and flexibility, their creativity and their imagination, they have fed the people of God. They have found ways to bring nourishment in changing times, with different resources, by going deeper into the storehouse of our tradition and the Word of God, as the Second Vatican Council has invited us all to do. Today, Gamaliel provides an insight into how the church from her earliest days drew from the wisdom of the Jewish tradition to respond to new questions, new situations, new developments. The Sanhedrin found this Jesus of Nazareth unsettling. What his disciples preached was changing everything, upsetting everyone. How would they respond? And so Gamaliel tells his colleagues in the Sanhedrin to make prudent decisions, wise decisions, based not on what they are observing in terms of the crowds’ expectations or reactions, nor based on how they feel at that particular moment — their anger, their disappointments, their fears — but rather to ask the question: “Where is God working in all of this? Where is God moving us now?” That is the approach that our jubilarians have taken in their ministry, not looking at how to please people in a particular age, nor avoiding the tough and unsettling questions of the day, nor even collapsing in self-pity in the face of the new and surprising demands. Rather, they have been strong, loving and wise in asking the question: “Where is the Lord now leading us? Where is he leading us to find food to feed the people?” In this Gospel text from John 6, it is clear that Jesus is giving his disciples an example of how to respond to unsettling and challenging moments, but also is teaching his disciples in every age how to recognize his presence and where he is acting in the world. There are three things that are noteworthy. The first is that Jesus respects the people who come to him. His respect is very profound, for it is a recognition that their hunger, which brings them to him, is a hunger God has given them. A retreat master once told a group of priests to have this kind of respect for those we serve, noting that “people come to us for ministry because they first of all have been given a hunger for God; they have discovered that God is real, and they want us to confirm them in that, to nourish them in that hunger God has placed in their hearts.” Great advice, indeed. Whenever we approach ministry from the vantage point that it is our doing, or that it depends on us, or that we have all the answers, that it begins and ends with us, we fail. I was struck by something Pope Francis told a group of missionaries some time ago, as they went off to a foreign land: “Remember, the Holy Spirit was there before you arrived.” When we show this kind of respect for people, a respect that acknowledges in all humility that God is already working in their lives, we can be sure it is the way of Jesus; we can be sure we are moving in the direction where he is working and where we can find food to feed them. The second thing we see in this Gospel scene of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes is that when the people are fed, everyone becomes involved. I often wondered about that young boy who came forward with the five loaves and two fish. What was the look on his face when he saw his lunch multiplied to feed 5,000? That would have made a great “selfie”! But, the miracle only began with him; it didn’t end with him. The disciples had to get the people involved by sitting down; everyone had to cooperate in passing out all the food; everyone had to help as the disciples went around to collect the 12 wicker baskets full. This is how Jesus works, which we saw from the very beginning of his ministry with the first miracle at Cana. First Mary, then the wine stewards, then the chief steward and the whole wedding party. Jesus works in a way that brings people together, and gets them to work together. Our brothers whom we celebrate and congratulate today, having served the 25 and 50 years, have known the importance of collaboration, of having coworkers in the vineyard, who pull together. They have come to recognize that one of the chief goals of ministry is not to accomplish a particular program, to build a certain building, to pay off a parish debt, but rather it is to create unity in the community. It is to take seriously the first mark of the church and make it foremost in ministry: we are one church. And so prudence and wisdom in ministry always aims at responding to questions such as: “What does my decision do for the unity of the church? How does it either build up or tear down? How do we keep people together, make them feel a part of the community, even those who are on the margins? How do we reach out to them in order for Jesus Christ to be experienced?” The wise pastor asks these questions. These jubilarians have worked to keep the flock together, carrying in trust this approach that goes back to the earliest days of the church, which was ever focused on trying to recognize where the Risen Lord is working in the world. It is in their working together, their inclusion of all, that they recognize his presence and action in their midst. And finally, we see in this Gospel text from John 6 the third element by which we test where the Lord is working. Does what we do, our approach, create hope? It is a hope that is expressed in the 12 wicker baskets full, a hope that there is always yet more. We also hear it in the title given to Jesus: “He Who Is To Come.” This is one of the most ancient titles for Jesus in the liturgy, especially for the season of Advent, Qui venturus est; Ho erchomenos in the Greek. “He Who Is To Come” is a reminder to the community that we can never say that our best days are behind us, or even that we have arrived, because he is the one who is to come. There is a fullness that is yet to come, because we are never satiated, never fulfilled, never satisfied. We are a people ever on pilgrimage. And so we recognize the Lord being present in our ministry when we make people hopeful about their lives, their families, the church, but also when we give them reasons to hunger for more. We are wise when we encourage them and accompany them to take the next step. The jubilarians today have ministered with prudence and wisdom. They have responded to new developments, new challenges, a changing landscape, not by giving people easy answers, nor by collapsing in panic, cynicism or self-doubts, but rather by asking: “Where is the Lord in all of this? Where is the Lord working?” It is the wise question of Gamaliel. It is the question that has made these priests nimble and creative, imaginative, resourceful, in their ministry. They have looked for where the Lord is working as they feed the hungers of people who come to them, as they work for unity in the church, as they give people hope about their lives and give them reasons to hunger for more. And so today, not only do we honor the past, but we look to the future, especially as we are equally honored to have with us our seminarians. I invite you, as you prepare for your own future ministry, to respect those we celebrate, for they offer to you the prudence and wisdom, once again, of Gamaliel. Your elder brothers encourage you to approach the ministry before you, with its ever-changing landscape and challenging twists and turns, by always first asking yourselves the question: “Where is the Lord in all of this? Where is he leading us?” They invite you to make your own an approach to ministry that goes back to the earliest days of the church, one that respects those who come to you, for it is Christ who has drawn them; one that creates unity as the first priority amid all your ministerial tasks; and one that gives hope to those you serve. That is the legacy of wisdom and prudence these Jubilarians entrust to you. Making it your own will be the best gift you can give them today. Congratulations to all of you.