A sermon on John 6:1-15

By Fr. Mike Paraniuk
St. Mary Catholic Church
St. Benignus Catholic Church 
St. Mary Queen of Heaven
and Holy Trinity Catholic Church

God created humans with needs. A need is something a human must have not only to live but to live happily. 

A very smart man, Abraham Maslow, made a list of those needs in five levels. You can't advance to the next level till you fulfill the needs in the previous level. 

Here is a list of the needs in every human:

1) Physical: air, food, drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, and sleep. Without these you die.

2) Security: Having a job, law and order, freedom from fear, peaceful living, a place to live, good health and wellbeing from harm.

3) Love and Belonging: Humans need to be connected with other humans. This need is so strong a child will still cling to an abusive parent. I have seen this.

4) Self Worth: A need to be respected and acknowledged as important.

5) Self Actualization: This is where you become everything you are called to be. I feel this at every Mass I celebrate. I was born to do this. A parent may feel this as their children succeed in life and start their own family.

I believe God will judge you based on how well you used your life to satisfy the needs of another human. 

The proof of this is found in Matthew Chapter 25. What did Jesus say? “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35: For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ "

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42: For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. 43: I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’"

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Jesus and the Apostles were confronted with a real basic need. They have 5,000 hungry people who need food. All they had was an offering of five barley loaves and two fish from a little boy. Barley loaves are the cheapest of all breads and the two fish were common sardines. The young boy gave what little he had. Jesus took it. He turned it into a huge abundance.

Jesus said to the Apostles in Mark 6:37, "You give them something to eat."  

God will help others through you. God can use even your smallest kindness to produce something greater you never expected.

I recently was in downtown Cincinnati. I found a place to park my car. Immediately a man in his thirties approached my window. I lowered it down a couple of inches and asked, "May I help you?" 

He replied, "Sir, I need some money for food. I haven't eaten for a while." 

I pulled a twenty out of my wallet and gave it to him. It wasn't much but maybe it could get him a couple of McDonald's meals. 

He was very appreciative. He said, "Sir, most people would peel out of here to get away from me like I was a monster. I'm just a hungry guy. Thanks for the respect." 

That $20 gave him more than just a meal. 

There are a lot of people out there who hunger for more than food. Jesus says to you, "Feed them."