{"id":2591,"date":"2018-07-29T12:53:52","date_gmt":"2018-07-29T16:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2591"},"modified":"2018-07-29T12:53:52","modified_gmt":"2018-07-29T16:53:52","slug":"17th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/17th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

17th<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B<\/a>
\n2 Kings 4:42-44
\nPsalm 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18 (16)
\nEphesians 4:1-6
\nJohn 6:1-15
\nJuly 29, 2018<\/p>\n

During the time Elisha served as a prophet of the Lord, there was a famine in the land.\u00a0 So, food was scare.\u00a0 A man brings twenty barley loaves and Elisha directs that it be given to the people.\u00a0 The response?\u00a0 \u201cHow can I set this before a hundred people?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The response indicates it is too little to feed that a hundred people.\u00a0 If you think about it, twenty loaves could be enough to give a hundred people something<\/strong> but not enough to fill their bellies.\u00a0 Yet, \u201cwhen they had eaten, there was some left over.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Food was scarce but \u201cThe hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

So, I would call this a small miracle.\u00a0 Now, what we read about in the Old Testament prefigures what we read Jesus does in the gospels.\u00a0 Elisha, with the grace of the Lord, fed a hundred people with twenty loaves.\u00a0 Jesus feeds five thousand with just \u201cfive barley loaves and two fish.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 This is not a small<\/em><\/strong> miracle.\u00a0 This is a huge<\/em><\/strong> miracle.<\/p>\n

Why does Jesus do this?\u00a0 Certainly, the crowd needed physical food to eat but is that all Jesus is about?\u00a0 No!\u00a0 We are told that \u201ca large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs<\/strong><\/em> he was performing on the sick.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Hearing the miracles referred to as \u201csigns\u201d tells us they are meant to point to something more.\u00a0 Jesus doesn\u2019t just feed five thousand people and leave.\u00a0 He does it in a way to make sure people realize there is something greater going on here.<\/p>\n

So, before<\/em><\/strong> Jesus feeds them he says \u201cto Philip, \u201cWhere can we buy enough food for them to eat?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Jesus wants to make sure they appreciate what is going on.<\/p>\n

Philip\u2019s response points to the impossibility of the situation, \u201cTwo hundred days\u2019 wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Is the situation impossible?\u00a0 Perhaps for humans but there is hope for nothing is impossible for God.\u00a0 We find there is hope when \u201cAndrew<\/em>, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, \u201cThere is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.<\/em>\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n

In human terms, this could hardly be called hope, five loaves and two fish for 5,000?\u00a0 Impossible!\u00a0 That\u2019s what makes the feeding a sign that God is at work in Jesus.\u00a0 Jesus feeds the five thousand as a sign to all that his power comes from God.\u00a0 From God\u2019s power, there is more left over than they started with.\u00a0 Jesus provides in abundance.<\/p>\n

In keeping with the feeding of the five thousand as a sign, it is essential that we realize that Jesus does not simply feed the people physically <\/em><\/strong>and move on.<\/p>\n

You see, this passage is only the beginning of what is known as Jesus\u2019 Bread of Life Discourse that spans all seventy-one verses of the sixth chapter of John\u2019s Gospel.<\/p>\n

For most of this year B in our Sunday lectionary cycle, we hear predominantly from Mark\u2019s Gospel but starting this week and for the next four weeks after today, we take a step away from Mark\u2019s Gospel to hear from Jesus\u2019 Bread of Life Discourse.<\/p>\n

To understand where our belief of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist comes from, it is vital that we listen to this Bread of Life discourse.\u00a0 Our belief that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Jesus comes from Jesus\u2019 own words.\u00a0 In the coming weeks we will hear how we must eat his flesh and drink his blood.<\/p>\n

The feeding of the five thousand with physical food is just beginning.\u00a0 In the coming weeks we will hear Jesus speaks of how the bread he will give is his flesh \u201cfor the life of the world.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B 2 Kings 4:42-44 Psalm 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18 (16) Ephesians 4:1-6 John 6:1-15 July 29, 2018 During the time Elisha served as a prophet of the Lord, there was a famine in the land.\u00a0 So, food was scare.\u00a0 A man brings twenty barley loaves and Elisha directs that it …<\/p>\n

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