Walking with Jesus: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

For Sunday, July 28, 2024

2 Kings 4:42-44, Ephesians 4:1-6, John 6:1-15  

The readings today take me back to my youth, growing up with my four siblings with mom feeding seemingly thousands of our friends … teammates … classmates who gathered at our house, always without notice. There was a custom hand embroidery in the dining room that read: Come in the morning … come in the evening … come when expected … come without warning. It fit well in our family. When my brother's crowd of friends showed up, Mom would slave over the waffle machine that produced only four waffles at a time. She was the waffle queen of the neighborhood. I don’t know what happened when my sisters’ friends came; my brother and I suddenly disappeared. And then there were the evenings when we “raided the fridge” for something to eat, all too often exclaiming, “There’s nothing to eat!” In reality, we didn’t like to eat leftovers. That doesn’t exist in my life these days.

The readings have many messages for us today. For the next five weeks — through Aug. 25, the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time — we will be hearing primarily from John’s sixth chapter, known as the Bread of Life Discourse. These coming weeks are a prime time for us to reflect on what the Eucharist means to ME: Do I understand it? Do I love it? Am I grateful for Jesus leaving us Himself in more than a special sacrament of love? Like a good teacher, Jesus reveals the meaning of this mystery gradually … little by little. He starts us off today by inviting us to reflect on God’s power. He loves us and continually cares for us. At best, we are aware of God some of the time. Though we have a responsibility to care for ourselves, our loved ones and each other — especially those in need — it is really God who provides for us. Even though our world feeds and shelters us and really provides everything we need to grow, develop and even thrive, all of this really comes from God. Unfortunately this doesn’t really hit home until we are painfully conscious of our dependence on God. Especially when tragedy comes: serious disease, injury of a loved one, loss of a job, death ... any tragedy we just can’t cope with. God’s presence and our dependence can be opportunities to be more aware of God. We can’t solve matters ourselves. There we discover another characteristic of God’s help: He gives us everything we need. It comes through people who show us the preciousness of love. Even though our society cherishes individualism by undervaluing the communal dimension, we become aware of God’s love through people’s love. Are we grateful — do we express this — do we know how to be thankful? Our readings help. ...

Paul gives the Ephesians advice on moral behavior. They are to live in ways that reflect their love: the love Jesus lived and preached. In Colossians 3:12-13, Paul describes this lifestyle as one of humility, gentleness, patience and tolerance, helping people through the rough spots, smoothing them out with kindness and love. Love is the principle that guides how believers should relate to one another. Am I living in this way? Do people in our lives know when we care more for ourselves than for them?

The gospel reading for these next weeks concentrates on the only miracle of Jesus that appears in all four gospels. We look to the crowds who are attracted to Jesus because of His miracles. The miracle of the Eucharist … we look how Jesus presents it. Looking back on our teen years, we were fed and fed and yet never on the brink of starvation — but we never really were hungry enough to eat leftovers. Today’s gospel has a lot of leftovers. The people in the crowd are poor; no doubt hungry for food as well as the need for God’s love and care of them as well as for practical ways they can see and feel this. Interestingly, the meal comes from a child who appears without parents — and there are loads of fish and bread left over ... 12 basketfuls. Jesus tells the crowd to gather the fragments; the leftovers. Why is this gathering so important? Jesus provides the bread and, a few verses later, still in the sixth chapter, Jesus is the bread. Let your mind wander a bit right now. Those gathered fragments: Could they represent the broken ... the forgotten ... the unwanted ... that Mother Teresa talked about and loved? They are not unimportant, or God never would have created them. Why? Because He loved them and wanted them here, where they are. They are not to be tossed away and forgotten; they are the Body of Christ. Am I conscious of them? Do I even care about them? Or do I dismiss them as nothings, nobodies, useless, not capable of giving love? What have I missed?

So I reflect on:

• I am with Jesus’ disciple helpers: What am I doing with all those leftovers? I look to Jesus to see if I can glean any answers from Him.
• Jesus insists that we gather them up. Why is that important? Are the people “bodies” of Christ?

Sacred Space 2024 states:

“The location, the setting and the occasion give us a framework to understand what Jesus was doing. A mountain, the Passover and the signs Jesus performed drew people to Him. Lord, You call us to Yourself and nourish us in surprising ways. Give us the ability to recognize the signs and to respond to You.

“Jesus was the prophet who taught and provided for the crowd. He used the little food they had to give, but His own food was to do the will of the Father who sent Him (John 4:34). May we hunger for the food Jesus gives and remain focused on what He can do.”