SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
28 JULY 2024
Ever
since we returned to the Scripture readings assigned on Sundays in Ordinary
Time, we have been hearing from Mark’s Gospel about the early ministry of Jesus
in Galilee. He has announced that he is
the promised Messiah and has taught that the kingdom of God is at hand. He has worked miracles to show people the
beginnings of that kingdom. He has been
rejected by his hometown folks in Nazareth and worried his blood family about
his behavior. However, he has broadened
the definition of family and has invited anyone who is willing to do the will
of the Father to become part of a new family.
Many have accepted his invitation and joined that new family. He has chosen twelve of those disciples and
sent them out on mission.
Last
Sunday, he tried to take his apostles to a deserted place to allow them to
rest. However, the vast crowd had
gathered there, and his heart was filled with pity for them. He knew that they are hungering for the truth. Instead of sending them away, he took time to
nourish their hunger for the truth by teaching them.
Today, we
depart from the Gospel of Mark and listen to the Gospel of John. John picks up where Mark left off. John is very careful to connect what Jesus is
about to do with what Moses had done many centuries before. Moses had led the large crowd of people through
the waters of the Red Sea. Jesus has
just crossed the waters of the Sea of Galilee.
Moses led his people to a deserted place and had gone up the mountain to
commune with God. Jesus finds a large
crowd in a deserted place, and goes up a mountain to sit down and teach his
disciples. The large crowd who had
followed Moses were hungry and needed food.
There was no food in the desert. Jesus realizes that his crowd is hungry
and needs to eat. He asks Philip, who is
from nearby Bethsaida, if he knows a place where they can buy food. Moses then announces that the Lord will feed
them with manna, so they will not starve.
Jesus chooses
to work this most remarkable of all his miracles at Passover, when his
contemporaries would celebrate the miracle of the Exodus from Egypt. Philip replies that they do not have enough
money to buy food for such a huge crowd in Bethsaida. Andrew points out that there is a boy here
who have five barley loaves and two fish, not enough to feed so many. Just as Elisha defies the obstacles in the
first reading by feeding 100 people from 20 loaves of bread, Jesus takes the
loaves, gives thanks, and distributes the loaves and fish to everyone. There are twelve baskets left over. Jesus withdraws when they want to make him
king. He does not work this miracle to
get their attention. He works it to help
them understand that he is the bread come down from heaven to feed everyone. We will hear his Eucharistic theology at Mass
during the next few Sundays.
The Lord feeds
us today with the miracle of his real presence in the Eucharist. But, as we are nourished and sent from this
church to do the Lord’s work in our day, we tend to have the same obstacles. Like Philip, we wonder if we are in the right
place. Like Andrew, we worry that we don’t
have enough money to meet so many needs.
We cannot imagine how we can meet the needs of so many with what we have. But Jesus can change our hearts. He will take care of the feeding. We just have to do the preparation. The word “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving”. As we express our gratitude for the Lord’s
real presence, we can take another look at what we have been given and express
a deeper gratitude by sharing our many gifts with others.
Saint Paul
says it all when he writes to the Ephesians.
In celebrating this Eucharist, we can be more intent on practicing the
virtues of humility, gentleness, and patience.
We become what we consume: The
Body of Christ committed to gratitude and humble service.
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