July 25, 2021
17th Sunday Ordinary Time B
When I was chaplain of St. Jude Chapel, Alfred NY we had scheduled a Mass and memorial service for a well known and respected professor at the University. After the service, so many people came down to the lounge for the reception (a buffet prepared by parishioners) that my reasonable assumption was: "Not enough food!" The son of the professor we were honoring happened to be in food service. He made a quick assessment and said: "There is plenty of food." We will serve the guests and put food on their plates. Portion control. As it worked out there was plenty of food.
In our Gospel according to St. John, Jesus "feeds the multitude." When Jesus sees the crowd, he says to Philip: “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat.†Philip makes a quick calculation and concludes: â€There is not enough money.†Andrew pipes in: “There is a boy here who has five barely loaves and two fish.†But adds: “what good are these for so many.†Philip assumes the crowd is too big. Andrew assumes available food is too meager. Jesus takes the initiative.
We can see ourselves in the responses of both Philip and Andrew. Like Philip, we can make an assessment of what is needed and what has to be done. We are overwhelmed and give up before we even start. Like Andrew, we may recognize available personal and material assets but judge them to be insufficient for the challenges we are facing.
John, the evangelist, refers to the feeding of the multitude as a sign. He includes details that are significant. Passover is near. Loaves are made from barley grain – bread for poor. Jesus blesses the bread and fish and gives thanks. Jesus distributes the bread and fish. Jesus will explain in his forthcoming bread of life discourse that this event, remembered by all four evangelists, must be understood in light of God saving the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt and providing heavenly bread in the desert and in anticipation of Jesus giving himself, his Body and Blood, in the bread and wine at the Last Supper.
Philip and Andrew undoubtedly are surprised by what Jesus does. They are discovering wonderful things can happen when we trust in God and acknowledge our human limitations. There is a beautiful quote of Saint Oscar Romero in the Gospel Meditation in our bulletin this weekend. “We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is the beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.â€
We cannot do everything. We are not meant to. Our work in life is to contribute our individual piece, a piece that has our unique thumb print. Consider Mother Teresa of Calcutta who saw a need, heard God’s call and began her mission to care for and to feed the poor. “We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.â€
Jesus directs his disciples: “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.†Fragments filled 12 wicker baskets! The young boy who provided the 5 loaves and 2 fish never dreamed that his offering would do all that it did. Amazing what God is able to do with our simple/ordinary acts of kindness and love.
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16th Sunday Ordinary B
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18th Sunday Ordinary B
