-
July 21, 202117th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
As we celebrate this Sunday, we take a break from the Gospel of Mark and hear from the Gospel of John, Chapter 6, the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fish. Over the last two Sundays we have listened to the stories of Jesus calling and commissioning the twelve apostles to go out into the world in mission and ministry. Jesus is for us a place of peace and rest. Remember since Advent I have been teaching about Jesus being fully human and fully divine and that the word Jesus and church can be interchangeable. Jesus is the church, and the church is Jesus. This helps us understand our connection to the universal church as members of the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic church. The church founded by Jesus with its Eucharistic celebration began on the night before he died, Holy Thursday, and was sent into the world on Pentecost Sunday. Last Sunday as the apostles returned from their mission and ministry Jesus called them aside to rest. Even when Jesus and the apostles went off to a deserted place, people came to encounter Jesus the shepherd.
Sunday is the first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly!
As the story begins today, we are reminded to pray and think about where our strength comes from. In Psalm 68 the psalmist identifies God as our strength. God is in his holy place, and God unites those who dwell in his house, giving them the needed strength to be his disciples, enduring all things. We experience a moment of clarity in today’s gospel. Jesus’ disciples were not always thinking of others, particularly at the end of the day or when distressed. The disciples knew that so many had gathered to hear from Jesus and the day was coming to an end and people needed to return home. As often in our life, it comes down to food. Whether spiritual sustenance or physical fuel, food is an essential part of our life in our daily routine. Some of the disciples tried to move people on, even hinting to Jesus to wrap up his preaching and healing for the day. Jesus asked Philip “where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” Jesus knew what he was going to do. This was a test. After taking a cursory inventory, it was thought that not even 200 days wages of food would be enough to feed the thousands gathered. Simon Peter, who eventually becomes the first pope, recalled a boy with five barley loaves and two fish. God always makes the most of any situation. He forms and shapes us through our joys and sorrows. As the disciples wanted to move on for the day and find a place of silence and rest for the night, what does Jesus do? He invites everyone to sit down, and he takes the loaves and fish, distributing them without ration until all had their fill. In passing the baskets to collect the scraps, 12 wicker baskets with fragments were left over.
Two key moments – the number 12 in the Jewish tradition ties us back to the 12 tribes of Israel and God’s care for even the lost tribes. Tribes not from the house of Judah. In the New Testament the 12 baskets support the mission and ministry of the 12 who will be called to go on Pentecost and bring the light of Christ and gift of the church from the upper room out into the world. The word of God, the sacraments of the church, and the ministry of charity which we support and animate through our faith can be equated to the abundance discovered in the miracles of the loaves and fish.
In our first reading today, we hear from the Book of 2 Kings. Here too, there is a miracle of loaves. At the command from Elisha, a great prophet, placing the barley bread before the people indicating that this bread comes from the Lord. Even though the number to be fed from the 20 loaves was 100, here too some was left over. Each time we gather for the miracle of the Mass we offer a memorial to Christ who through the sanctifying work of the church and her priests recalls the bounty which the Lord provides for us day in and day out. We depend on this bounty. The gift and mystery of the Eucharist is for us food for the journey and nourishment in our rest.
It is important for grandparents to meet their grandchildren and for grandchildren to meet their grandparents, because — as the prophet Joel says — grandparents, before their grandchildren, will dream, and have illusions [great desires], and young people, taking strength from their grandparents, will go forward and prophesy.
– Pope Francis, January 31, 2021
Make it a great week and let us continue to look out for one another. I understand that several Indiana counties, including Spencer moved back to the yellow zone as COVID cases rise. + Be Healthy, + Be Smart, + Be Holy in your planning and participating in activities.
PAX - Father Anthony, OSB
