17TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME HOMILY – YEAR B 2024
BREAD OF LIFE – HUNGRY AND TIRED MASSES ARE FED
Jn 6.1-15 (Mk 6.35-44 ) 2Kings 2.42-44 Eph 4.1-6
(Rhyme Bible – “Lunch to Share” – Sattgast)
This week, we had 2 school Masses at OLN and St Therese’s, where we reflected on the importance of grandparents in our lives, Friday being the memorial day for Anne and Joachim, known as parents of Mary and so grandparents of Jesus, not that we know anything about them! It was only in 2021 that Pope Francis declared World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly (I leave what constitutes elderly up to you – generally speaking, perhaps anyone older than I am, the number going up 1 each year!!) to be on this day, the 4th Sunday of July. So it’s happy grandparents’ and oldies day to all grandparents and those who fulfil that role in our young people’s lives. It was good to reflect on the way they are involved in our lives, and to give thanks for their love, presence, interest and the fun they share with us.
And now for today’s Gospel, where I have an old university friend Neil, from our chemistry days in the lab, whose favourite Gospel is this one, as he has always had a fascination with the ‘5 barley loaves and 2 small fish’, as he’d put it. So I sent him a text, asking for advice on this weekend’s homily, his response being: “In today’s world, you may want to make it sour dough barley and ethically farmed and sustainable fish”!!
Whatever about that, meanwhile, we go back to Jesus using the common food for sustenance at the time, bread and fish, as he often refers to familiar down to earth images for getting his point across, as with the birds of the air and the flowers in the fields, the shepherd and his sheep and so on.
In Mark’s Gospel, following on from last week, with the disciples returning from their journey on a mission of outreach, here we have the crowd of enthusiasts who have followed them, getting to Jesus on foot, now tired and hungry. Their physical needs are real, and Jesus is determined to acknowledge this, so he takes the initiative and first asks for help, in terms of someone coming forward to offer something to share.
Rather than Mark’s account, however, today we have a switch to John’s Gospel, as in chapter 6, he presents a far more detailed account, leading into Jesus’ theological dissertation about himself being the “Bread of Life”, foretelling Eucharist as himself, which we’ll hear over the next month of Sundays. (I don’t have to keep thinking up further reflections, as I’ll be on annual leave! But I’ll be back for First Communions.) What we do know in faith, is that Eucharist is at the heart of Catholic life and worship, which is why we are here present now.
Often I refer to scripture scholar Frank Moloney’s description of Eucharist as ‘Bread for the Broken’ and just for the pure and the perfect, which description fits none of us anyway, if we’re honest about our own limitations and shortcomings. Somehow, this understanding was lost along the way, with the extreme view that one had to go to Confession before receiving Communion, because the soul had to be lily white for one to be worthy. Yet, don’t we say every time we gather for Eucharist, after the Sign of Peace, “Lord, I am not worthy”, before coming forward to receive Communion. What is more, we have the Penitential Rite at the beginning of every Mass, acknowledging weakness and sin, but not beating ourselves up about our imperfections, and certainly not developing a Catholic guilt complex, which has always been an unhealthy approach to trying to live a good Christian life in our Catholic tradition.
Back to our Gospel story, the unexpected happens when the young fellow comes forward with his small offering. There is firstly here a simple message about a willingness to share one’s resources, however small. It is a tale about generosity of spirit, where the sharing then goes a long way, through Jesus’ intervention, but it starts with the giving, and goes from there. Then there are the substantial leftovers, to be kept for later. “Waste not, want not” might be applied here! Here we can see a prefiguring of reserving the Eucharist for those who can’t be there, so that those who hadn’t made the trip might get a share when those present return home. As we do now, when we take Eucharist to the sick and elderly at home.
A mention has to be made too of today’s second reading, where Paul emphasises the fundamentals of Christian discipleship and living life well, in relation to others, with his call for selflessness, gentleness and patience, seeking unity and finding common ground together in our relationships in family and broader community, which is why I use it regularly at Baptisms.
Scripture scholar Brendan Byrne SJ points out too that the initial question of “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” is economic and political, an issue enduring today, where there remains so much hunger worldwide, reminding us our responsibility to do something about that in our own small way, supporting Caritas, Project Compassion, Catholic Mission and the work of our St Vincent de Paul Society members at the local level.
As Claude Mostowik MSC sees it: “Today we see the prophet who is embodied in Jesus, who looks out at people, understands their needs and responds to them… calling for their care and for them to care for one another. It is noteworthy that the people were not told to line up for food, but to sit down where they could get to know each other, learn from one another, build trust in order to share what they had. The sharing of the little child set off a chain reaction of sharing among the people. Such action is at the heart of Jesus’ teaching. Little is much in God’s hands.”
And it’s for you and me to play our part, following the way of Jesus, nourished by his gift of Eucharist, the “Bread of Life”, which is also “Bread for the Broken” on our continuing journey of faith and life together.
john hannon 28th July 2024