God makes the humdrum great, when invited in – Matt 12:1-8

Friday of the 15th week of Ordinary Time; St. Joseph parish.

The Second Temple stood in Jerusalem for over 400 years.  It was 1600 feet long, 900 feet wide, 9 stories high, and its main walls were built with 30 ton bricks.  But Jesus wandering in a field with his disciple munching on someone else’s corn: this was something greater than that.  The Temple was the site of passionate, lavish, exquisitely celebrated festivals of joy, mourning and sacrifice.  But Jesus and his rag tag band: that was something greater.  The Temple was the symbol of national and religious pride, the site of the Chanukah miracle, celebrating Jewish defeat of pagan idolatry.  But this lax, hungry group: something greater.

It’s pretty outrageous actually when you think about it: Jesus compares stopping for a snack on a walk to the work the priests do serving in the Temple on Sabbaths.

A simple snack…  Sharing food…  Relieving hunger…  Companionship on a journey.   Humdrum or profound: any moment is transformed by Jesus’ presence.  What would it look like if we were invoke and be mindful of the transforming presence of Jesus at every moment of our lives?

The liturgy schools us, trains us and inculcates in us that will to invite and welcome Jesus.  Here, by calling down the Spirit, Christ transforms sacramentally so that we munch not on corn, but on his body – a greater sacrifice than the already great sacrifices offered in the Temple.  Christ stands ready to transform all.