Homily for Saturday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time

Paella is a classic dish in traditional Spanish cuisine. It is a simple combination of rice, seafood, and a few vegetables and flavored with the spice saffron and nothing else.

Saffron comes from a type of crocus flower. When it is in bloom, fragile stigmas and styles are delicately plucked by hand. These thread-like parts are then dried. The tiniest pinch of saffron, ground with a mortar and pestle, can spice up a dish of paella large enough to feed a dozen people. It imparts a strong, earthy fragrance and a flavor that leaves a deep mark on both the palate and the memory.

In today's well-known Gospel story, Jesus took the seven loaves and few fish given to him by his disciples and fed the large crowd. Much like the saffron and even the mustard seed of faith, God can take what seem to be meager offerings and make great things happen with and through them.

Let us pray that we will not see the little that we may have to offer, in terms of our gifts, talents, and stewardship, as being too little to bother. May we offer them in faith that God will use them in great ways.+