A Miracle That Kept on Giving

U. S. A. | SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

July 26, 2015. Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

John 6:1-15

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 bit." One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to hima, "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.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that you, the Holy Trinity, dwell in my soul. Thank you for the joy of your friendship and love. I hope in you; I hope that you will guide me and my loved ones home to heaven, where we can delight in your presence forever. I love you and long to be a better instrument of your love.

Petition: Lord, help me to achieve an unconditional trust in you.

A Test to Get Us to Grow in Trust: It was clear that Jesus’ disciples did not have the means to help these people out of their predicament -- neither in ready available cash nor in locating a nearby market large enough to feed the overburdening crowd. Yet Scripture says, “He said this to test him.” Let this passage remind us that God can allow our problems to become so big and desperate as to show forth his power. God wants us to trust in him and to purify our intentions along our journey of faith. How great our Lord is in solving the unsolvable and making possible the impossible. He cures the incurable, raises people from the dead, and, most importantly, converts the erring sinner. “Nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:38). Do I easily give up hope when I don’t see a human solution to a situation? Blessed is he who believes that what the Lord promises will be fulfilled (Cf. Luke 1:46).

Our Lord Wants Us to Play a Part in His Miracle: God has the power of creating something out of nothing, but he asks for human collaboration, even if it is minimal. Here it is no different. The apostles are utterly poor: they can bring to Our Lord only five loaves and two fish from a boy they find in the crowd. Jesus asks us to contribute because he wants to teach us to be generous, even when we think we have nothing to give. Actually, it is when we give from our want that we most please Our Lord (Cf. Luke 21:1-4). Poverty is never an excuse for a lack of generosity in serving and working for Our Lord. This miracle proves to us that Our Lord can never be outdone in generosity.

Don’t Miss the Point: In this scene Our Lord slowly prepared his apostles and disciples for his teaching on the Real Presence in the Eucharist. He had to purify their hearts and prune out attachment to the things of this world in order for them to accept the difficult teaching about his self-giving love found in the Eucharist. Even so, when he saw that the people were about to miss the point of his miracle, Our Lord “withdrew again to the mountain alone” (John 6:15). Sometimes Our Lord withdraws the comfort and consolation of his presence in our lives because we wrongly interpret their meaning and purpose. Do I properly discern the spirit in my heart when I pray? Am I happy only for things that gives me comfort, or am I truly coming closer to Christ because I recognize who he is and return to him the same authentic love he gives me and wants from me?

Conversation with Christ: Thank you, Lord, for this meditation and the lessons I learned from it. Keep me generous so I may never lose my trust in you. When the situations of my life seem unsolvable, help me to trust that in your time, you will work your wonders in my life, bringing glory to your name.

Resolution: I will make a visit to the Eucharist or a spiritual communion each day this week, offering this sacrifice of time for the conversion of the hearts of those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust, or do not love you, Lord, in the Eucharist.

Offering a Trifle

Dr. Mark Giszczak

July 26, 2015
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading: 2 Kings 4:42-44
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/072615.cfm

Sometimes what we have to offer doesn’t measure up. Our best effort might not yield success. Our best idea might not see the light of day. What we bring to the table is not always adequate to the task. This can leave us wondering how we will ever get things together and amount to something. Yet this is where God kicks in—not with magic, but with grace.

Death in the Pot!

In this Sunday’s first reading, we find the prophet Elisha confronting a dilemma. A time of famine has come upon the town where he is, Gilgal (2 Kings 4:38). He is chief prophet, over the “sons of the prophets” who seek his help in the crisis. At first, he asks them to make a stew, but the only vegetables to be found for the stew are poisonous gourds. The sons of the prophets don’t realize the danger until they are eating their lunch and one of them yells, “There is death in the pot!” In response, Elisha throws some meal into the pot and the stew is miraculously made healthful. You would think after such a miracle, he would get a break.

A Little Lunch

But soon an out-of-towner comes in with a bag of bread and grain. It is the first-harvested barley of the year and everyone is starving. When Elisha tells him to set it before the hundred or so prophets, he objects that it is far too little food to do so. Now the text tells us that he brought 20 loaves, which might seem like a lot of bread. But the size and shape of loaves of bread in the Bible varies considerably and relying on the man’s shock at the suggestion that it could feed 100 people, perhaps we should view each loaf as a single portion. The starving men would be glad for anything, but these 20 loaves would certainly not satisfy their hunger.

Eating to the Point of Satiety

After stating his objection, the man allows himself to be overcome by Elisha’s insistence. Elisha again tells him to set the food before the prophets, but this time he includes a prophecy: “thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and have some left’” (2 Kings 4:43 RSV). And indeed, the prophets eat up the loaves and the grain, with leftovers to spare. I can’t imagine having leftovers in the midst of a famine! They must have had a lot of bread to eat. God provided for their need in the middle of a crisis. He made up for the lack in what was offered.

A Meagre Offering

We might not have much to offer God. In fact, how could the Creator of the universe have need of anything that we possess? He has given so much to us that we owe him everything yet he needs nothing. It’s like trying to give a Mother’s Day present to your mom when you are four years old. All we can give him is ourselves—we have nothing else but this meagre offering. And yet that scanty sacrifice is precisely what he desires.

Living Sacrifice

The Lord can take the little that we have to offer and transform it, extend it, change it from something worthless into a beautiful sacrifice. He does not regard us in the same way that the world does—constantly measuring, comparing, weighing, judging based on appearances. “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1Sa 16:7 RSV) The Lord sees beyond the limits of what we can give into the heart of who we are. St. Paul tells us to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Rom 12:1 RSV). When we don’t measure up in the eyes of the world and our knee-jerk reaction is to hide ourselves and our gifts from others, God invites us to step out in faith and let him take care of the rest. He accepts and blesses what we have to offer, no matter how paltry it seems to us.

God shows up for Elisha and the prophets, turning a measly bag of bread into a feast for a hundred men. The miracle required a risk. The man with the bread had to risk the embarrassment and shame of putting a tiny amount of food in front of a large crowd of men. But for taking that risk, God blessed his offering. He turned a pittance into a celebration. When we are willing to believe him, believe his Word, believe that he really came to die for us and rise again, he responds in abundance. When we take the usually small risks involved in faith, God replies to our “yes” with a profusion of blessing beyond our imagining. If we come to him with what little we have, his mercy pours over us like a waterfall. It’s a good deal. Why not take him up on it?