Faith Sandwiches

Seeing how faith flavors our whole life

07/05/2022

MT 9:18-26 While Jesus was speaking, an official came forward, knelt down before him, and said, “My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples. A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel on his cloak. She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.” Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured. When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion, he said, “Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they ridiculed him. When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. And news of this spread throughout all that land.

Do you ever have cravings for a really tasty sandwich? Maybe you feel a hankering for a BLT, or a French Dip sandwich; others prefer a good Patty Melt, or a hearty Meatball sandwich, and still others want a simple PBJ or really popular these days are avocado toast sandwiches. Now that I have you in the mood for a good sandwich, do you know where the best sandwich shop is in the world? You will find it right here in the Bible, in the four gospels, especially the Gospel of Mark. St. Mark makes the best sandwiches in the world, better than French Dip, Reubens or Avocado Toast. Mark makes “faith sandwiches”, and he taught his secret recipe to Matthew, Luke and John, too.

What is a faith sandwich? Well, you will find these sandwiches most often in Mark, but you also find it in today’s gospel from Matthew 9. As you know, a typical sandwich has two pieces of bread: one on top and another on the bottom. The meat or other ingredients are in the middle. And like all sandwiches, the meat in the middle gives flavor to the rest of the sandwich, and make even the bread taste better. So, too, with the faith sandwich. The gospel writer begins with a certain story, then the story is interrupted by a seemingly strange segue, and then he returns to finish the original story. The bread on top and bottom are the original story and the meat in the middle is the segue story.

Did you notice the faith sandwich in the gospel this morning? Matthew – Mark’s sous chef – starts telling the story about an official whose daughter has just died and asks Jesus to come heal her. That story is the top slice of the bread. Then Matthew inserts the meat in the middle by interrupting that story with the woman suffering from hemorrhages for 12 years. With great faith, she just touches the tassel of Jesus’ robe and is healed. The meat of the sandwich is her great faith.

And then Matthew returns to the original story with Jesus arriving at the little girl’s home and the people ridiculing him when he said she is only asleep and not dead. Can you see the faith sandwich, or better, taste it? By juxtaposing the stories of the woman with great faith and the people of little faith, St. Matthew is teaching us the importance of and the difference that faith makes. Faith, like the meat in the middle, gives flavor to the whole sandwich: the woman’s faith on the road was an example to the lack of faith of the people in the house. And that is how you make a faith sandwich.

My friends, would like you like to learn the secret recipe and make your own faith sandwich? I am convinced that our whole life can be a huge faith sandwich. How so? Recently, two of our church staff members have had babies. One is named Juan Antonio, and the other is Oliver. Sometimes I carry the babies around the office and we pray the rosary together. And that immediately puts the baby to sleep, like the rosary does to many of us.

But as I walk and look at these babies, I have noticed how they share a lot of the same traits as elderly adults. Babies and the elderly take naps, they need other people to help them eat and change clothes and pick them up and place them in a seat. Sometimes both wear diapers (sorry about that). Juan Antonio is big enough to be put in a contraption where he can stand and move his legs. I asked his mother Cecilia what that contraption is called, and she said, “a walker”. See any similarities between babies and the elderly? Babies don’t drive cars and some elderly people should not drive cars either.

My point is that our years as a baby and our years as elderly are the two sides of bread of our lives. And the meat is in the middle and gives flavor to the whole sandwich. So ask yourself today: what am I filling the sandwich of my life with? Is the meat in the middle of our life a lot of materialistic, worldly goods, which would make a decent sandwich after all. Or, is the meat in the middle of my life layers and layers of faith, piled high with prayers, penance, peace and patience? In other words, we can learn from the sandwich shop of the gospels how to make a great faith sandwich of our whole life. That's the best sandwich in the world.

Today as we celebrate Independence Day here in the United States, you may not get to eat a sandwich, or maybe you might. But we still may have a few quiet minutes to think about important things like the blessings of freedom and the blessings of our faith. And maybe you might even find yourself hankering for a really good faith sandwich.

Praised be Jesus Christ!