American Decadence or the Promise of God??

So today I went to 915 mass in the Upper Church at St. Therese (On AJC Bose road near Shishu Bhavan, which means nothing to anyone not in Kolkata or familiar with it, but that basically means it's a 10 minute straight walk north of the Missionary of Charity Motherhouse).

I showed up expecting to enter into a low ceiling affair that wouldn't be terribly beautiful, but I was wrong on both accounts, it had a huge ceiling, though it is on the second floor, and it was very beautiful, though also very simple.

I sat in the pew and noticed that the confessional was out (in India, confessionals are movable affairs with a screen, a kneeler facing the screen and a chair on the opposite side, they can either be one or multiple pieces). So I looked a bit more and noticed the priest was still there!?! 7 minutes before mass. So I went to confession and had one of the best Confessors I've had in a year or so.

Then I went and waited for mass to start (he stayed in the confessional even as the openning announcements were made, and only left after the announcements finished.) During the homily, He started by talking about "a study made in the land where you all want to go", "at least in your dreams". "In America." The study researched how one fifth, 20% of all food is wasted. How in America there are huge markets with food on all the shelves, and each piece of food has a date on it. (As he was talking I could see the dream of America captivate everyone, including the Priest and the lone American.) "In America on the day that the food is stamped, no one will buy it, and all of it goes to waste. So in the Markets, the day before they take all the food and throw it away."

I was thinking about how much we waste, and how much Indians reuse and recycle every single thing, even used soda bottles and plastic bags. I felt guilty for being an American, a person who throws away on a good day 10% of the food on my plate, and won't drink milk that has just "expired" according to the date. I thought about all the decadence I see in America that we've become numb to, all the excess and wastes of resources. And I was bracing myself for a scolding.

But none came. Instead he continued "this is the promise of God!" That He will give us abundantly every day more than we need.

And when they had eaten, there was some left over,
as the LORD had said.
2 Kgs 4:42-44


And I began to feel blessed by God. I began to take pride in being an American who daily recieves the blessings of God, though hidden from my blind eyes.

It was not a scolding that I recieved, but a blessing, it was not a teaching on decadence but on God's providence. How even in this country that is SO poor, people are not envious or jealous of Americans, but instead they too take pride in their brothers and sisters across the sea, even if they are white and not brown.

I learned again today that my own selfishness is manifest in the thoughts I give others, in my expectations of what they will do.

The priest proceeded to interpret the scriptures in a way that was both very interesting, honest and theologic. I was captivated by his references to the Church fathers, and his call on the young to give their five loaves and two fish...

“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?”
Jn 6:1-15


(the whole readings can be found here... http://www.usccb.org/nab/073006.shtml)