The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - What to Do in a Lonely Place

Episode Date: August 4, 2023

Do you ever experience loneliness? Many of us have felt lonely at some point in our lives, and today, Jeff speaks on the feeling of loneliness. He offers guidance and encouragement on what to do when we feel alone. Snippet from the Show If you feel like you are in a lonely and deserted place, God will meet you in that place. He will love you in that place. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

Welcome to the Jeff Kaven show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together in living as activated disciples. This is show 335, what to do in a lonely place. Welcome back to the show. Good to have you back here again, where we can talk about discipleship scripture and walking with Jesus on a daily basis. If this is the first time that you have joined us here on the Jeff Kaven show, welcome to you as well. Hope that you can get some things out of the show that will help you put God's word into practice on a daily basis.

Isn't that what it's all about? Isn't it? It's really all about hearing God and then putting into practice what God is saying to us in His Word and in the tradition of the church. in the quiet of our hearts, God speaks to us every single day. I want to talk about something that I think a lot of people struggle with today. In fact, many of the studies that are coming out say that it's the number one problem for many young people, but I think many adults as well, and that is loneliness, being in a place where you feel lonely and you feel isolated and you feel trapped,

you know, kind of in a way. And I remember years ago when I was, was a pastor for 12 years, I guess, yeah, 12 years, I met a lot of lonely people and people who would come to church and, yeah, they're with others, but inside of their heart, they are lonely and they're facing situations that nobody else understands or is even aware of, and they're not quite sure what to do. Are you in that place right now? Are you in a place where there's a lot of busyness going on around you, maybe even in your own family, an extended family, neighbors, friends, colleagues at work.

But there's something about the situation that you're in that leaves you feeling lonely and isolated. I was reading the scripture in Matthew chapter 14 about the feeding of the 5,000. And as I was reading it in preparation for this show, something really stood out for me. and something that I think I can share with you. You're aware, if you've been with me for a while,

about this discipline called Lexio Divina. And Lexio Divina is where you take a portion of the scripture, like, for example, today, Matthew 14, 13 through 21, the feeding of the 5,000, and you first of all, you read it. You take just a moment to read it out loud to yourself, and you listen to what pops out, you know, what is illuminated, What's glowing, you know, on that page of your Bible?

And you write that down in your journal. And if you don't have a journal, I would encourage you to check out the insight journal that Father Mike Schmitz and I put together for Ascension. It's a journal that keeps track of the insights in your life. We've talked about that on previous shows. I'm not going to go into that any deeper, but get something to write down your impressions of what you're reading. So, for example, Matthew 14, you're reading about the feeding of the 5,000, and as you read it, there might be a line that pops out. That's what happened to me when I was reading this story of the feeding of the 5,000. And as that popped out, that led me to the next step of Lexio de Vina, which is meditating on that particular idea, that thing that's really caught my heart, my mind.

And after you meditate on it for a few minutes, then you begin to pray and talk to God about why that particular aspect of Scripture is popping out at you on that day. Is it for you? Is it for somebody else? Is it for later on in the day? We don't know. But this is the way the Lord works. He speaks to our heart. And if all of all, if you and everybody else that's listening were to meditate on the feeding of the 5,000, there would probably be, you know, a dozen or so different verses that people would highlight based on where they're at in life, what they're struggling with, questions of the heart, all of that.

So you got lexio, which is reading the text, then meditatio, which is meditating, then Oratio, which is you're asking God these questions about the text. and coming to some kind of conclusion as to what the Lord is saying to you on that day, then you go into contemplatio, which is just a state of Thanksgiving and rest in the Lord for what he has revealed to you. And you might even start thinking about how you're going to put this into practice. Well, what popped out at me in Matthew 14 with the feeding of the 5,000? I'll share that with you. Let me start from the beginning. I'm just going to read a couple paragraphs, and I'm not going to read the whole story,

but I'll read to the point where it caught my attention because I think it was for you possibly. When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said. Now, this is the perspective of the disciples after this amazing day, you know, of Jesus' teaching. Who wouldn't want that audio series? So then this is what they approached Jesus and they said, hey, this is a deserted place and it is already late.

Dismiss the crowd so they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves. He said to them, there is no need for them to go away. Give them some food yourselves. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine being one of the disciples and you yourself are tired like everybody else that's been sitting there all day? Your stomach is grumbling and you see this problem of 5,000 plus who are hungry and your solution is send them away. You know, get them over to a fast food restaurant. Better yet, name 10 of them.

And they can all separate and go to these fast food restaurants. And Jesus doesn't buy into their solution. he says, you give him something to eat. Wow, they said to him, five loaves and two fish are all we have here. Then he said, bring him to me. Bring him here to me. And he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. And then he took the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven. He said, The blessing, Baruchata, Adonai, Oloheno, melah, alam ha, ha, muzili ha, man ha, man, Hebrew prayer over the bread. He broke the bread. And he gave them to the and in turn, they gave them to the crowd.

Okay? Now, the thing that popped out at me was this. When the disciples approached him, they said, and it's this line. This is what popped out at me, as I read it. This is a deserted place, and it is already late. Now, that's what popped out at me. It's a deserted place, and it's already late. Now, a deserted place. One translation actually says, a lonely place. This is a lonely place. In other words, this was off the beaten path. And Jesus was out there, of course, and morning and John the Baptist. And Jesus went out to a lonely place, a deserted place. They followed him there. They find themselves in that place, a lonely place. And it was late in the day. Now, when I

prayed about that, and I started to look at it from the literal sense, and then the three spiritual senses, the allegorical sense, that's how it relates to Jesus, the moral sense, how it relates to me, and the analogical sense, how it relates to heaven. As I was thinking about that, I saw a practical application there for you, and that is this. You might right now be in a lonely place in your life. You might be in that place where you feel alone and nobody else really knows it. You're carrying on at work and with family in a way that they would not pick out the signs that you are lonely and you feel abandoned and it's late. It's late in the game. A lot of people feel like that. They do feel alone. But on top of that, they feel like it's too late. It's, it's

so late. I wish I would have done this when I was younger. I wish I would have known this when I was younger. I wish I could go back and make that decision again. But it's too late. It's too late. The day is spent. Now, that's how some people feel. Do you feel that way? Do you feel like even in the midst of a crowd, it's a lonely place for you? Well, that's what I want to talk to you about. On the other side of this break, I want to share with you a couple of things that I think can transform that lonely place and that feeling of being late into a blessing in your life. And we're going to look at what did Jesus tell them to do in that situation. He may be telling you to do the same thing. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show.

Is it possible for you to live a life of greatness that is more. than just confusing relationships, endless scrolling, and unfulfilling friendships. I'm Sarah Swafford, author of Emotional Virtue. And I'm Andrew Swofford, professor of Benedictine College, and co-author of a Catholic Guide to the Old Testament and editor of the Great Adventure Catholic Bible. And we wrote a book with Ascension called Gift and Grit. How heroic virtue can change your life and relationships. Gift and grit shows you how to foster authentic relationships and answer life's deepest

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slash gift and grit. Welcome back. We're looking at the feeding of the 5,000 today. And the title of the show is what to do in a lonely place. And prior to the break, I was talking about this, how many people do feel alone. And they feel like it's too late. Too much life has been lived.

They can't go back. And so as I was reading that, doing Lexio de Vina, the words popped out. They popped out at me. This is a deserted place. and it is already late. Dismiss the crowds. Show is over.

We'll see you down the road. So Jesus doesn't uphold that view. He says, you give him something to eat. Don't send them off to Burger King McDonald's and Arby's. Not that you wouldn't want to, but you give them something to eat. What do you mean we give them something to eat? Yeah, this is a deserted lonely place. And it is late.

and disciples you're going to be a part of the solution i want you to give them something to eat but lord we only have five loaves and two fish is this a is this just an analogy is this a teaching you're doing uh-uh this is reality give them something to eat and so you know the story the five loaves and the two fish turned into enough to feed the five thousand and there were baskets left over for them you know and uh but the point is jee Jesus did address the need in the lonely place, and he did address the need late in the day. And I've got good news for you, my dear friend, if you feel like you're in a deserted, lonely place, God will meet you in that place. He will fill you in that place. He will love you

in that place. He'll fill the void in your life. And if you feel like it's really late in the equation. It's late in the day. It's late in your life. You know what? It's never too late as long as you have breath. It's not too late for the Lord to meet you in a beautiful way. Now, what really hit me as I was doing Lexio de Vina on this is this. There were two things that the Lord did in the lonely place. The first is that he turned the bread and the fish into enough to meet the need. Now, the church fathers, and you can find this all over the catechism, they talk about how the bread that was broken in the feeding of the 5,000,

is a sign of his body, the Eucharist, and that the Eucharist is what will fill the heart of those who are in a lonely place. and the church fathers had a lot of fun with this you know they talked about dividing up the crowds into groups and how that is the various cities and dioceses and so forth and then fed the people in a miraculous way at the hands of the disciples that's what the eucharist is is all about and the catechism says in paragraph 1322 and on it says that the holy eucharist completes christian initiation those who have been raised to the dignity of the royal priesthood by baptism and configured more deeply to Christ by confirmation, participate with the whole community in the Lord's own sacrifice by means of the Eucharist. Now, what this is pointing to is that when you're in a lonely place, God will meet you in the Eucharist.

And it goes on and says, at the last supper on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his body and blood. And this he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the ages until he should come again. And so to entrust to his beloved spouse, the church, a memorial of his death and resurrection, a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a pascal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace. And a pledge of future glory is given to us.

You know what? That talks about the three senses. How does the feeding of the 5,000 relate to Jesus? Well, he's giving his body and blood to feed the multitude. What does it mean for you, the moral sense? Well, it's a sacrament of love. It's a bond of charity. It's a paschal banquet for you.

And what about the future? Well, it says that this paschal banquet in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us. So all three spiritual senses are contained right there. By the way, that's paragraph 1323 of the catechism. I'll put that in the show notes for you. Don't worry about it. Speaking of show notes, real quick, if you want them and you'll want them forever, then all you've got to do is text my name, Jeff Kavins. one word, Jeff Kavens, and text it to the number 33777. I'll say it again, 3377. But listen to this.

In the following paragraphs after that, in paragraphs 1324, 1325, and 1326, it is just filled with beautiful truths. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. The other sacraments, the other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole. Can you say that for a moment with me? Contain the whole. Say whole spiritual good of the church, namely Christ himself, our Passover. The Eucharist is the efficacious sign and sublime cause of that communion in the divine life and that unity of the people of God, by which the church is kept in being.

Now, that's an important point right there that in the Eucharist, this is paragraph 1325, in the Eucharist, there is the divine life and unity of the people of God. In other words, in the Eucharist, we are united. We are united. But get this, we're not just united among ourselves here on earth.

We are also united with those in heaven. heaven. And paragraph 1326 says, finally by the Eucharistic celebration, we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life when God will be all in all. So this is what I wanted to share with you. And that is that in the lonely place, Jesus gives us not just bread, but he gives us his body in blood, soul, and divinity. He gives that to you as the bride. So if you really feel like you're in a lonely place, a deserted place, I'm here to remind you that you are not alone and you are not deserted,

that Jesus is with you in the Eucharist. He is with you. He's giving himself to you. And I would highly recommend that if you are, feeling that loneliness in that deserted place that two things one go to mass as often as you can oh but jeff i'm busy too busy to take care of the loneliness give me a break nobody should be saying i'm too busy i'm too busy to sit with god and deal with my problem well if that's the case then good luck you know but i know that's not you you wouldn't be listening today if that was you you're looking for a solution

And so I would really encourage you to go to Mass as often as you can. And when you receive the Eucharist, you can say, I am not in a lonely place. Right before the priest or the extraordinary minister says the body of Christ, right before that, you can just say in your mind, I'm not in a lonely place. I am with the Lord. He is giving himself to me. And another thing that you can do is go to adoration. Anybody that's struggling with a lonely place and feeling deserted or that there's no, hope because the day is long and the day is almost over, that's the time to go to adoration.

And a lot of people start struggling with loneliness as the sun goes down and they look at their lives or they compare themselves to other people. Don't do that. If you feel this coming on, this loneliness, this deserted life, seriously, go up to adoration. And as you walk into the Adoration Chapel just say, I am not alone. I am not alone. Lord, you are here with me. I'm just going to sit in your presence because without you, I truly would be in a deserted place. But it's not a deserted place and you're not deserting me, Lord. You promised that. You promised it. But listen to the second aspect of this. It was the disciples who were the ones who brought the food to the people in the lonely place. And it is our priests who give us the Lord in the blessed sacrament. And so we are

united to each other here on earth. But get this. And I love it. And this is that paragraph 1326. By the Eucharistic celebration, we already unite ourselves with the heavenly liturgy. Do you have a loved one who died? Did your spouse pass away? Has it left you in a deserted place? And it's the late hour, you're old, and you feel alone. My dear friend, I want you to know you're not. If your loved one is with the Lord, then you are once again united in the Eucharist with your loved ones in heaven. My wife and I have made comments several times when we went to Daily Mass, and we saw so many old people at Daily Mass, widows and widowers. and I've made the comment several times that I wonder if they come to Mass every day as a widow or widower

because they know that they're united with their spouse in the Eucharist. Maybe they don't know it theologically, but maybe they know it intuitively in their heart. That this is where their spouse and they went to Mass every day. And now that they're gone, they're going to continue to go with their spouse who is united to them heaven. It's a beautiful thought. Maybe you know of somebody right now in your life that could use this podcast. You could use the encouragement. If you can use the encouragement, somebody else could use the encouragement. So I just want to encourage you today. I really do encourage you that when you find yourself in a deserted, lonely place, and it's late in the game, number one,

you're not alone. Number two, it's never too late to be comforted. It's never too late to have a friend in Jesus. It's never too late. Don't think like that, okay? Don't think like that. You are bound to Christ. You're bound to one another. But sitting in your apartment alone and dwelling on that is not going to be the solution.

Go to where Jesus is in the Eucharist. And that was the solution to the feeding of the 5,000. was the solution was, don't go out to a movie, don't go out to the bar, don't, you know, that wasn't the solution. The solution was, Jesus is right here, right now. And let's commune with him. I want to pray for you. And if this particular podcast was for you, I'd love to hear from you.

And you can write me at the Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. You can make comments online on this. particular episode. I read them. I would love to hear from you. Does this minister to you? Does this uplift you? Does it encourage you where you're at right now? Were you about to do something that the Lord is saying to you now, stop. Come to me. All who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Let's pray. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus, we love you. We thank you, Lord, for life. And we thank you for giving yourself to us in the Eucharist. Lord, we who feel like we're in a deserted, lonely place, and it's late

in the day and almost have given up. Lord, we come to you. We come to you. We're the ones with the weary hearts. We're the ones who are heavy laden. We're the ones looking for rest and peace for our souls. And we know that we cannot find it anywhere but in you. For you are our shepherd, our lord our husband you are our covenant king we give ourselves to you today help us lord to make the decisions to be with you in jesus name amen father son holy spirit i hope you make that decision today maybe on the way home from work just uh walk into a adoration chapel what do you say when you're walking in i'm not alone go to mass before you receive the eucharist i'm not alone and hello all my relatives

who went before me. God bless you and you have a marvelous day. Love you. Look forward to talking to you next week.