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Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 110
Reading 1
A man came from
Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God,
twenty barley loaves made from the firstfruits,
and fresh grain in the ear.
Elisha said, "Give it to the people to eat."
But his servant objected,
"How can I set this before a hundred people?"
Elisha insisted, "Give it to the people to eat."
"For thus says the LORD,
'They shall eat and there shall be some left over.'"
And when they had eaten, there was some left over,
as the LORD had said.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (cf. 16) The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The eyes of all look hopefully to you,
and you give them their food in due season;
you open your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
Reading 2
Brothers and sisters:
I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:
one body and one Spirit,
as you were also called to the one hope of your call;
one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has risen in our midst.
God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus went across the
Sea of Galilee.
A large crowd followed him,
because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.
Jesus went up on the mountain,
and there he sat down with his disciples.
The Jewish feast of Passover was near.
When Jesus raised his eyes
and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,
he said to Philip,
"Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"
He said this to test him,
because he himself knew what he was going to do.
Philip answered him,
"Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough
for each of them to have a little."
One of his disciples,
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?"
Jesus said, "Have the people recline."
Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
"Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted."
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves
that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
"This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
Elisha fed 100 with twenty barely loaves while Jesus fed 5000 with just five and two fish. This does emphasize that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of everything that has come before and enshrines His divinity for all to see. Obviously, being the Son of God, He is greater than the prophets, yet it is through Him that everything the prophets spoke has been revealed completely. This brings us back to the Transfiguration, where Jesus was seen speaking with Elijah and Moses on the mountaintop. One of the most important things revealed to us through this event was that Jesus was the at the pinnacle of Divine Revelation. Elijah represented the prophets and Moses represented the Law.
In our lives, we have the capability of being fed by Jesus physically, mentally, and spiritually. Recognizing His influence over us can bring about a fundamental change in all areas: how we think, how we act, and how we live overall. For this to happen, we have to let Him in and let go of our preconceived notions that we are in charge of our lives. There are no limitations to what Jesus can do for us. The only way to limit Him is by us not accepting this to be true. Arrogance leads to a lack of faith, which then leads to a lack of trust. That is what happened to the Jewish People time and time again throughout their history and we are always at danger of it happening to us. In fact, Jesus was foreshadowing the rejection of Him being the Messiah and the Son of God by instructing His disciples to collect the fragments which filled twelve wicker baskets, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. They would not be nourished by Jesus. Yet even though that was the case, there would be a time when they too would be nourished, for salvation through Jesus Christ is for everyone. There will be a time when all of God’s creation will be subject to Jesus Christ, with all His enemies being beneath His feet and subject to His will. At that time, there will be a period of judgement. It is then that we will be presented with a final choice: Who will we serve? Will we profess our loyalty to Jesus or to this world ruled by Satan?
Jesus is patient with us. As the Apostle Paul writes,
“If we are unfaithful,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.”
He also writes how love is patient, kind, and never fails. Jesus is that love which can persevere over all things, including our own iniquities. He wants us to follow Him. He has our best interests at heart. He does not want to force us to worship Him. This goes against all concepts of what love truly is. Instead, He presents an invitation for us to either accept or reject. We see this invitation presented to us in the parable of the Wedding Banquet. Here Jesus tells the story of a king inviting many of his subjects to a wedding banquet for his son. All those invited refused. Many went about their business while others abused the king’s servants and then killed them. The king, in return, sent his army to burn the city and kill those subjects who refused to attend. He then proclaimed that they did not deserve the invitation. He sent his servants out again, inviting everyone in the streets to come attend the banquet. Jesus gives us all the same invitation with no requirement to attend. At the same time, there is responsibility that comes with acceptance. This responsibility comes in the form of being open to the influence of Jesus in our lives. Are we prepared to turn over our will over to God and let the Holy Spirit open our hearts, minds, and souls to His Living Word? With an acknowledgement of Jesus in our lives, we cannot resist the change that will inevitably come with that. We also cannot resist the responsibility that comes with it. Later in the story, when the banquet was in full swing, the king noticed there was a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes. When he questioned the man, he remained silent. In response, the king had him bound and thrown outside. Here was someone who was given a gift and showed no appreciation in return. He did not even do the bare minimum in return for what he was given. The king referred to him as a friend. We, in turn, cannot minimize what we have been given.
Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life. It is through our relationship with Him that we are made whole. All our needs, wants, and desires can be taken care of as long as we listen to Him and accept what He has to offer. It is that simple. There is no need to overcomplicate things. We just have to be accepting of Jesus setting us in the right direction and guiding us on the path of peace and love.
Deacon Tom
