18th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026

 One of my favorite television shows is Chopped on the Food Network.

If you've never seen it, here's how it works. Four talented chefs are each given a basket of mystery ingredients. They don't get to choose what's in the basket.

Sometimes the ingredients seem to go together beautifully.

Other times they're completely random.

For example, you might see a basket containing gummy bears, canned tuna, hot sauce, and kale.

The challenge is to take whatever is in that basket and transform it into a delicious meal.

I've often thought that if Jesus were ever a contestant on Chopped, He would win every single time.

Because in today's Gospel, someone hands Him a basket containing five loaves and two fish.

The disciples look at what's in the basket and immediately begin doing the math.

"Five loaves. Two fish. Five thousand people."

"This isn't enough."

But Jesus never asks them to find more bread.

He never tells them to go to the next village.

He simply says, "Bring them here to me."

I think that's one of the most important lines in the Gospel.

The disciples saw five loaves and two fish.

Jesus saw the beginning of a miracle.

The difference wasn't the ingredients.

The difference was whose hands they were in.

Isn't that often how we look at our own lives?

We open the basket of our lives and say:

"I don't have enough patience."

"I don't have enough money."

"I don't have enough time."

"I don't have enough faith."

"I'm not talented enough."

"I'm too old."

"I'm too young."

Like the disciples, we spend so much time telling Jesus what we don't have.

Jesus simply says, "Bring me what you do have."

That's what faith is.

Faith is placing what little we have into the hands of the One who can do infinitely more with it than we ever could.

Notice that the disciples never performed the miracle.

They didn't multiply the bread.

They didn't figure out how to feed the crowd.

They simply entrusted what they had to Jesus.

And once it was in His hands, it became more than enough.

That same message runs through all of today's readings.

Isaiah invites us to come to the Lord and receive food and drink without cost because God is generous.

The psalm tells us that God "opens his hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing."

St. Paul reminds us that nothing—not hardship, not suffering, not even death itself—can separate us from the love of Christ.

Our God is a God of abundance.

He is never limited by what seems impossible to us.

Every one of us came to church today carrying a basket.

For some, that basket is filled with joy.

For others, it's filled with worries about family, finances, health, or the future.

Some baskets seem full.

Others feel almost empty.

But Jesus isn't asking us to compare our basket with anyone else's.

He's only asking us to bring Him our own.

Because the miracle was never about how much bread the disciples had.

The miracle happened because they trusted Jesus enough to place it in His hands.

In a few moments, bread and wine will be brought to this altar.

By themselves, they seem ordinary.

But once they are placed into the hands of Christ, they become the Bread of Life.

That's not only what happens to the bread and wine.

It's what Jesus wants to do with each one of us.

So this week, stop telling Jesus what you don't have.

Instead, bring Him what you do have.

Your gifts.

Your weaknesses.

Your fears.

Your hopes.

Your five loaves and two fish.

Then trust the Divine Chef.

Because what seems insufficient in our hands becomes more than enough in His.