In our germ-a-phobic, post-pandemic world, it’s hard to imagine why Christ would request that the remaining fragments from feeding five thousand be gathered up. For what? Ewww, somebody else touched it, and I won’t eat it.

Clearly, we have never gone hungry.

Sadly, these days, we are used to giving bogus excuses for wasting food.

I was once a cake decorator in a large grocery store. Every morning, each department would have an empty grocery cart to fill with unsellable items due to expiration, appearance, or overstock. The bakery cart would be loaded with excellent products, but whose short shelf life had expired. The produce department filled carts with ugly, moldy, bruised fruits and veggies. Our meat department would fill carts with expired poultry, pork, and beef. Everything went into the dumpster. When the store discovered that homeless and hungry people were dumpster diving for something to eat, we were required to pour bleach all over the food we were disposing of to discourage this. They feared a lawsuit, so they chose to protect themselves instead of finding a way to feed the hungry.

There are other ways that we are wasteful besides food. We waste time. Taking a break from work to meander through the park is using my time effectively. Spending hours of time online or on our phones, cruising site to site is a time-sucker.  Living vicariously through your screen serves no one, including yourself.

We will be called to account for our wasted time, food, and lives.

Every human is blessed to be alive. God has given each of us talents to share, and everyone benefits when we do. Unused talents are worthless and squander the gift that was given. When we hide out of fear, terrified to live the life God gave us because of anxiety, laziness, or self-serving interests, we waste our lives.

Can words be wasted? Yes. We can waste our words by saying more than necessary or trashing someone’s character. Do our words raise up or tear down? Do they clarify and spread the truth or confuse?

 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will render an account for every careless word they speak.Matt 12:36

This gives me pause to be more mindful of my words. Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh, the Word Incarnate. Our words can make us more Christ-like or offend His Goodness.

So, why would Christ require that the fragments be preserved and not left for the birds?

Perhaps what appears to be useless scraps are somehow important in the Kingdom of God. I’m not even a useless scrap; I’m dirt, and I’m amazed at what he has done with me.

“This is my Body given up for you.” (1 Cor 11:24). Christ used every fragment of his being to leave us a remembrance. Take and eat; this is my Body. (Matt 26:26) Jesus wastes nothing because everything is precious, even complicated, you and me. The Host may seem like nothing special. Yet, in this humble fragment of consecrated bread lies everything, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. “If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion.” St Maximilian Kolbe

Fr. Mike Schmitz is fond of saying, “Nothing given to God is ever wasted.”

We may not believe that God can do much with us, but He who made the cosmos can do something miraculous in you and me. I wouldn’t have thought my little ‘yes’ given decades ago would have made much of a difference. He used the likes of me and those who said yes to do incredible things in ministry. He knows the yield of fruit; I do not.

The next time you feel worthless, small, or unnecessary, realize that’s a lie. Second, God does His best work with nothing.

“What wonderful majesty! What stupendous condescension! O sublime humility! That the Lord of the whole universe, God and the Son of God, should humble Himself like this under the form of a little bread, for our salvation”   St. Francis of Assisi

Imagine what He can do with you!

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