A Homily – The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

 First Reading – 1 Kings 19:4-8

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 33(34):2-9

Second Reading – Ephesians 4:30-5:2

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:23

Alternative Acclamation – John 6:51

The Gospel According to John 6:41-51 ©

 

(NJB)              

 

Listen!

God, the creator of the universe, God is not a king-maker; God is not a general leading armies and God does not desire sacrifices of blood and flesh.

God speaks to us of love and mercy, of justice and compassion, of tenderness and humility; God is the arbiter of grace.

Be mindful.

If you seek the divine, look no farther than your heart; you will find God through loving, and in loving you will be blessed.

Praise God through works of love; seek glory through service, in serving with humility.

Know this.

God’s greatness is exhibited through love. God has no name, therefore if you seek to exalt the name of God you will find yourself at a loss, and though it is good to praise the divine God does not desire our praise, what God desires is our co-operation in the loving work of creation...exalt that.

Listen to your neighbors, with a kind word you may deliver them from fear, God’s light will shine through you, and you will know it because it is the light of faith (which means trust), hope and love.

Know this.

With God there is no shame; the all-knowing God knows our iniquities, God knows us as we know ourselves, and God does not respect social status or wealth…God loves everyone the same.

Understand this: We are each of us like Job…in our own way.

Do not look for God to save you from your troubles, through faith in God you will understand how transient they are.

Look to your family and friends if you need to be rescued from some dilemma, look to your neighbor, remember the “good Samaritan,” the deliverance you seek may very well come from a stranger.

Know this.

All pain is temporary, but love lasts forever.

Do not fear; speak the truth. Avoid evil; do good.

God sees all, hears all, knows all, even your innermost thoughts, secrets, desires, and motivations, God knows your thoughts…even as you think them. Therefore, keep your mind in the present and give no attention to the things that may or may not come your way.

This is the way to peace:

Mindfulness…mindfulness…mindfulness and truth telling, mindfulness with compassion, compassion with patience, patience with grace; listen, see, feel…understand.

Pursue clarity, tell the truth, fulfill your duty with devotion, remain calm, practice mercy and forgive, be kind and share the divine grace in friendship with all whom you meet; do these things, act in these ways, promote these qualities in service to God.

Consider the teaching of the apostle and let us not dwell on the false claim he makes in his letter to the Ephesians. Jesus was not slaughtered like a sacrificial animal and given to God as a fragrant offering.

God does not desire the holocaust, and no one can stand in your place before the judgment seat. Each person is accountable for their own sins, mandated to forgive those who have sinned against them, and required to ask forgiveness of those they have sinned against.

What is important here is that we are asked to love one another, this is the appeal, to love another, show mercy to one another as Jesus taught.

Be Mindful.

God’s grace is not transactional; though love fosters love, there is always love and God is always with you…you do not have to buy a ticket to receive it, join a group or do anything at all.

Consider the Gospel reading for today, it is replete with theological errors, it could be a case study in the misapplication of metaphor.

The reading suggests that Jesus is the bread of life, like the mana that fell from heaven when the Israelites wandered in the desert…only Jesus, as the bread of life, is different.

Jesus, as the bread of life, feeds the spirit; its life-giving properties are not of this world, to receive it is a prerequisite for entrance into eternal life.

Understand this:

In the final verse of the reading, the gospel writers link Jesus, as the bread of life, to the cult of animal sacrifice; this is a common error among Christian writers.

The cult of animal sacrifice, bloodletting, killing, these have no redemptive value in and of themselves. There is no magic in it, God does not savor the scent of burning flesh.

The bread of life is a metaphor, it is not derived from Jesus’ actual body, the wine is not his blood. Rather, the bread of life is his teaching on the way, a mode of being that leads to a just society, one seeks the good of every individual.

To eat the bread of life, is to incorporate this teaching into your own life, for your benefit and the good of all people everywhere.

When the gospel writers get bogged down in their efforts to prove the authority of Jesus by appealing to his divine sonship, they forget that we are all the children of God. Rather, they should appeal to the simple authority of his teaching, measured by its truthful commitment to spreading compassion throughout his community, and doing so in humility with compassion.

Do not pay attention to the excuse making the gospel writers engage in when they tell you that no one come to Jesus except by the will of God; God wills that everyone come to the way. When the apostles and their heirs make these excuses they are merely justifying their failure to effectively communicate the real message in Jesus’ ministry and reach their audience.

The gospel is this:

God love you, and God loves us…we, all together. To serve God we must do the same.

First Reading – 1 Kings 19:4-8

The Angel Gives Elijah Food to Reach the Mountain of God

Elijah went into the wilderness, a day’s journey, and sitting under a furze bush wished he were dead. ‘O Lord,’ he said ‘I have had enough. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’ Then he lay down and went to sleep. But an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’ He looked round, and there at his head was a scone baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. But the angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat, or the journey will be too long for you.’ So he got up and ate and drank, and strengthened by that food he walked for forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

 

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 33(34):2-9

Those Who Seek the Lord Lack no Blessing.

I shall bless the Lord for ever:

  my mouth will proclaim his praise.

My soul will glory in the Lord:

  let the meek listen and rejoice.

Join me and proclaim the greatness of the Lord:

  together let us exalt his name.

I sought the Lord and he listened to me:

  he rescued me from all my fears.

Look to him and he will shine upon you,

  and you will not be put to shame.

This poor man called, and the Lord answered him

  and saved him from all his many troubles.

The angel of the Lord will build defences

  round those who fear the Lord:

  he will come to their rescue.

Taste and see that the Lord is kind:

  happy the man who hopes in him.

Revere the Lord, his saints:

  for those who fear him are never destitute.

The rich are hungry and in want,

  but for those who seek the Lord

  there is no lack of good things.

Those Who Seek the Lord Lack no Blessing.

Let Peace be All Your Quest and Aim.

Come, children, listen to me:

  I shall teach you the fear of the Lord.

Who is the man who desires life,

  who wants to live long to enjoy good things?

Do not let your tongue speak evil:

  let your lips not utter deceit.

Avoid evil, do good:

  seek peace and follow it.

The eyes of the Lord are on the just

  and his ears hear their cries;

but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil:

  he wipes their memory from the earth.

The just cried out, and the Lord listened

  and freed them from all their many troubles.

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted:

  the crushed in spirit he will save.

Many are the troubles of the just,

  but the Lord will free them from all of them.

He will protect all their bones:

  not one will be broken.

Their own evil destroys sinners:

  those who hate the just will be punished.

The Lord will redeem the souls of his servants:

  those who put their hope in him will not be punished.

Amen.

Let Peace be All Your Quest and Aim.

 

Second Reading – Ephesians 4:30-5:2

Forgive Each Other as Readily as God Forgave You

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God who has marked you with his seal for you to be set free when the day comes. Never have grudges against others, or lose your temper, or raise your voice to anybody, or call each other names, or allow any sort of spitefulness. Be friends with one another, and kind, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ.

  Try, then, to imitate God as children of his that he loves and follow Christ loving as he loved you, giving himself up in our place as a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – John 6:51

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the living bread which has come down from heaven, says the Lord.

Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to John 6:41-51 ©

Anyone Who Eats this Bread Will Live Forever

The Jews were complaining to each other about Jesus, because he had said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ ‘Surely this is Jesus son of Joseph’ they said. ‘We know his father and mother. How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’

Jesus said in reply, ‘Stop complaining to each other.

‘No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets:

They will all be taught by God, and to hear the teaching of the Father, and learn from it,

is to come to me.

Not that anybody has seen the Father, except the one who comes from God: he has seen the Father.

I tell you most solemnly, everybody who believes has eternal life.

‘I am the bread of life.

Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a man may eat it and not die.

I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.

Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.’

 

A Homily – The Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

Observation - August 9th, 2024, Friday

a cool morning in in August

my windows are open,

a small dog is barking

 

a bus slows to a stop on thirty-seventh

a hydraulic hiss issues forth when it stops

 

green leaves silhouetted

            against a silver sky

turning circles on the tips

            of crooked fingers

beckoning to me

      to come outside

A Homily – The Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

First Reading – Exodus 16:2-4,12-15

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 77(78):3-4,23-25,54

Second Reading – Ephesians 4:17,20-24

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:6

Alternative Acclamation – Matthew 4:4

The Gospel According to John 6:24-35 ©

 

(NJB)              

 

Listen!

God did not feed the Israelites in the desert, they gathered its natural fodder, and called it a miracle. This mana in the desert was received as a miracle, and consumed in a spirit of thanksgiving, but it was not a supernatural event.

Insisting that the myths of our ancestors represent a historical record of fundamental truths does not make them so. Our insistence does not turn allegories into actualities, or even present these metaphors as something suitable for modern theology, or philosophical exploration…we must handle them with care.

God, the creator of the universe, never intervened in the lives of people in the ways that are recorded in the Book of Exodus, or the Psalms; God is not a magician, or a miracle maker. The creator made us and the entire universe in a state of radical freedom, free from all forms of divine coercions; God does not reach into the world to change the fate of nations.

Consider the wisdom of the apostle who encourages us to enter into the life of God and be renewed. Share in the divine providence, in God’s abundance; cast off your old ways of greed, envy, fear and despair. Share abundantly and without reservation, even in times of scarcity.

Live as Jesus lived, he showed us the way to lead a truthful life, and dedicate yourself to the good of all God’s children…which means everyone.

If we live merely to eat, we are no different than the beasts of field and forest, following our noses and the hunger in our bellies, ruled by thirst and the vicissitudes of desire.

We can be more than that, we were made to be more than that, to look beyond ourselves, to be drawn out of ourselves, to see in our neighbors another-self and the divine spark that unites us spiritually.

We may be transcendent by following the way.

Consider the Gospel reading for today.

God is the author of all life, not each and every instance of pro-generation, but of the entirety of life’s potential fulfilled in each and every case. We do not come into life by believing in it, we come into life through the crucible of birth.

We were made not just for life in this world, but for life everlasting. We do not acquire everlasting life through the power of our belief, or any power of our own, but through grace, which we are endowed…it is a gift that comes directly from the divine.

Jesus calls us to have faith in this proposition, and by our faith to free ourselves from our present fears. In this way we are able to love one another, to care for our sisters and brothers, even the stranger among us; a just society is not possible without it.

Know this.

Jesus does not call on us to believe in his name, the title that were given him after his death, or the supernatural powers that were attributed to him in the generations that followed.

Jesus calls on us to believe in God’s plan for creation, to believe that the world is good, and that justice and mercy are possible to the extent that we act in accordance with those beliefs…this faith is the bread of life.

First Reading – Exodus 16:2-4,12-15

The Lord Sends Manna from Heaven

The whole community of the sons of Israel began to complain against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness and said to them, ‘Why did we not die at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we were able to sit down to pans of meat and could eat bread to our heart’s content! As it is, you have brought us to this wilderness to starve this whole company to death!’

  Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now I will rain down bread for you from the heavens. Each day the people are to go out and gather the day’s portion; I propose to test them in this way to see whether they will follow my law or not.

  ‘I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel. Say this to them, “Between the two evenings you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have bread to your heart’s content. Then you will learn that I, the Lord, am your God.”’

  And so it came about: quails flew up in the evening, and they covered the camp; in the morning there was a coating of dew all round the camp. When the coating of dew lifted, there on the surface of the desert was a thing delicate, powdery, as fine as hoarfrost on the ground. When they saw this, the sons of Israel said to one another, ‘What is that?’ not knowing what it was. ‘That,’ said Moses to them, ‘is the bread the Lord gives you to eat.’

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 77(78):3-4,23-25,54

Our fathers have told us of the might of the Lord and the marvellous deeds he has done.

Alleluia.

Listen, my people, to my teaching;

  open your ears to the words of my mouth.

I shall open my mouth in explanation,

  I shall tell of the secrets of the past.

All that we have heard and know –

  all that our fathers told us –

  we shall not hide it from their descendants,

but will tell to a new generation

  the praise of the Lord, and his power,

  and the wonders that he worked.

He set up a covenant with Jacob,

  he gave a law to Israel;

he commanded our ancestors to pass it on to their children,

  so that the next generation would know it,

  the children yet to be born.

They shall rise up and tell the story to their children,

  so that they put their trust in God,

so that they do not forget the works of God,

  so that they keep his commandments;

so that they do not become like their fathers,

  rebellious and troublesome,

a generation of fickle hearts,

  of souls unfaithful to God.

The sons of Ephraim, the bowmen,

  fled when it came to battle;

they did not keep their covenant with God,

  they refused to follow his law.

They forgot his deeds

  and the wonders he had shown them.

In front of their ancestors he had worked his wonders,

  in the land of Egypt, in the plains of Tanis.

He divided the sea and led them across,

  he held back the waters as if in a bag.

He led them in a cloud by day;

  and through the night, in the light of fire.

He split the rock in the desert

  and gave them water as if from bottomless depths.

He brought forth streams from the rock

  and made the waters flow down in rivers.

Still they insisted on sinning against him,

  they stirred up the wrath of the Most High in the desert.

They put God to the test in their hearts,

  asking for food, their desire.

They spoke out against God, saying

  “Can God lay a table in the wilderness?”

He struck the rock, and the waters poured out,

  and the streams were full to overflowing;

“But can he give us bread?

  Can he give meat to his people?”

The Lord heard all this, and he flared up in anger.

  Fire blazed against Jacob,

  his wrath rose up against Israel.

All this, because they had no faith in God,

  they had no trust in his saving power.

He commanded the clouds nevertheless,

  and opened the doors of the heavens.

Manna rained down for them to eat:

  he gave them the bread of heaven.

Men ate the food of angels;

  he gave them provisions in abundance.

In heaven he stirred up the east wind,

  he brought the south wind, by his power:

he rained meat on them as if it were dust,

  winged birds, like the sands of the sea,

to fall in the middle of their camp,

  all around their tents.

They ate and were full to bursting,

  and so he gave them their desire.

In the middle of their enjoyment,

  when the food was still in their mouths,

the wrath of God rose up against them,

  and slew the healthiest among them,

  and laid low the flower of Israel.

All this – and still they sinned,

  still they had no faith in his wonders.

He made their days vanish in a breath,

  their years in a headlong rush.

Whenever he was killing them, they sought him,

  repented and came back to him at dawn:

they remembered that God is their helper,

  that God, the Most High, is their saviour;

but their speech to him was only flattery:

  they lied to him with their tongues,

their hearts were dishonest towards him,

  they did not keep his covenant.

But the Lord is merciful:

  he forgives sin, he does not destroy.

Always he turned aside his anger,

  held back from unleashing all his wrath.

He remembered that they were flesh –

  a breath, that goes and does not return.

Alleluia!

They remembered that God was their helper and their redeemer.

Alleluia!

 

Second Reading – Ephesians 4:17,20-24

Put Aside Your Old Self and Put on the New

I want to urge you in the name of the Lord, not to go on living the aimless kind of life that pagans live. Now that is hardly the way you have learnt from Christ, unless you failed to hear him properly when you were taught what the truth is in Jesus. You must give up your old way of life; you must put aside your old self, which gets corrupted by following illusory desires. Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revolution so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God’s way, in the goodness and holiness of the truth.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 14:6

Alleluia, alleluia!

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord; No one can come to the Father except through me.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – Matthew 4:4

Alleluia, alleluia!

Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to John 6:24-35 ©

It is My Father Who Gives You the Bread from Heaven; I Am the Bread of Life

When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus. When they found him on the other side, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’

Jesus answered:

‘I tell you most solemnly, you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.

Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures to eternal life,

the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.’

Then they said to him, ‘What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?’ Jesus gave them this answer, ‘This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.’ So they said, ‘What sign will you give to show us that we should believe in you? What work will you do? Our fathers had manna to eat in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’

Jesus answered:

‘I tell you most solemnly, it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the true bread; for the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’

‘Sir,’ they said ‘give us that bread always.’

Jesus answered:

‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst.’

 

A Homily – The Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

Alexander Solzhenitsyn – Author, Nobel Laureate, Hero

I will say without equivocation that Alexander Solzhenitsyn is the greatest Russian author of all time, even greater than the great Dostoyevsky, surpassing by orders of magnitude the likes of Tolstoy; he is perhaps the greatest author of all time…and this is no trifling estimation.

I first encountered his classic novella, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich when I was in my late teens, just a little book that could be read in an afternoon, but it was heavy and it was deep.

I read it slowly, forming every word in my mouth, pushing them out with my breath…quietly, nearly silently. I read it aloud to facilitate my understanding.

In my early twenties I was still heavily involved with reading other authors in the Russian cannon. It took some time for me to get to Solzhenitsyn’s other writing, like the Gulag Archipelago for which he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, but when I came to it, I found it life changing.

Solzhenitsyn said the Archipelago was more of an exercise in journalism than literature; he was surprised by how well it was received, though he should not have been. Its principal achievement was the personalization of the gulag experience which he was able to do because he himself had been a victim of it.

He put a human face on the collected suffering imposed by the Soviet state on all of its citizens by exposing to the world the systematic injustice of the gulag system, and the threat of it which hung over everyone (and still does today).

Solzhenitsyn was born in Russia, in 1918, just after the Bolshevik Revolution. He served in the Russian Army during World War II. In 1944 he was decorated for valor in combat and Awarded the Order of the Red Star, but in 1945 he was arrested for saying derogatory things about the government in private correspondence. These were statements that he did not publish but were merely shared between himself and a friend.

He spent eight years in the gulags after his conviction.

Surviving World War II and the Russian gulags are themselves heroic feats, feats for which any person is deserving of recognition. His status as a Nobel Laureate is another thing that marks him as a person of significance. But…what makes Solzhenitsyn a hero to me is his insight into human nature and his profound ability to communicate that insight through the poetry of prose.

In my early thirties I read more of his books: October 1914 and The First Circle. I was awed by the way in which he could present the myriad forces: societal, intellectual, spiritual and emotional that vector-in on the complex matrix of concerns that comprises the motivations and shapes the intentions of individual persons.

Solzhenitsyn was able to portray the movement of those currents and shifting vectors in the matrix, in a way that made the lives of his characters…even the most ordinary, crackle with a dynamism that transforms them into living spirits, even the most heinous and cruel appear as worthy subjects of our compassion. He was able to accomplish such feats because he was adept at humanizing the characters in his novels, allowing his readers to expand their own view of the world…to include his own; in doing so his readers are made into better persons for having read him.

A Homily – The Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

First Reading - 2 Kings 4:42-44

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 144(145):10-11,15-18

Second Reading – Ephesians 4:1-6

Gospel Acclamation – John 6:63,68

Alternative Acclamation – Luke 7:16

The Gospel According to John 6:1-15 ©

                        

(NJB)

 

Listen!

 It is wise to trust in the providence of God, knowing that it does not manifest itself as miraculous or supernatural activity; we are the agents of the divine, God’s providence comes through us. Those one-hundred men experienced this when the bread was distributed and none of them took more than one hundredth of what had been given, each of them took less than a fifth of a loaf…and there was some left over.

 Know this.

 God, the creator of the universe, God is not a king.

 God is present in all times and all places, even in the deepest recesses of the human heart, but God does not intervene directly in human events. God’s influence over us is indirect; God shows us the way and it is for us to take it. It is up to us to act on God’s behalf in relation to our sisters and brothers, to care for our mother’s and father’s as God would have us do. God’s power does not interfere with our freedom in any way.

 Contemplate the vast power of God, in whom and through whom the entire universe exists; contemplate the way of justice, love and humility, keep to it, and share it with the stranger, the alien and even your adversary.

 The apostle calls us to selflessness and to love, to recognize this truth: Gods spirit animates all things. God is God of all beings; the whole of what is came into being through the divine, exists in the divine, and without the divine would cease to be, because God’s spirit animates all things.

 As children of God we each share in the same grace that was manifested by Jesus of Nazareth. We each receive an equal share of God’s love, which is a love without measure, infinite and eternal. We each reflect that grace for one another according to our own willingness and our individual capacities which fluctuate in direct proportion to our desires and ambitions for ourselves and our families.

 Be mindful of doctrine and its pitfalls.

 Peter would have us believe that he follows Jesus because Jesus has the secret to eternal life, as if this were the purpose of the gospel, as if believing in the proposition that Jesus is the “Holy One of God” is the key to receiving the gift, as if the gift had not already been given to all of God’s children.

 Peter wants us to believe access to Jesus, to the truth and the reality of life everlasting, is parceled out by God through the church, allowing some to come to it while refusing others.

 This scheme is not true.

 Jesus preached the good news, and the good news is this:

 God loves you and you are saved. You are not saved for anything you have done, you did not earn it, you are saved because God loves you and God love’s everyone.

 The promise of salvation is not that you will be spared from suffering and torment in hell, or that when you are judged God will forgive you…if you do x, y, and z.

 God has already forgiven you, you are already saved. God has prepared you and everyone for eternal life, this is the good news…the really good news.

 Believe it!

 Let the goodness of the promise flow through you now and start living as if it were true.

 We are not called to believe in the idea that Jesus is this or that, the “Holy One of God;” we are called to act on the principles of Jesus’ faith, to be charitable and of service to each other.

 Remember.

 At least half a century had passed from the time of Jesus’ death to the time that Luke’s Gospel was written. By this time Palestine (Judea and Samaria) were completely under Roman rule, Jerusalem had been ruined, its temple destroyed, and the population killed or in bondage, scattered across the Empire in the second great Diaspora.

There were no witnesses to the events Luke describes, the story is a fabrication, pure myth, it never happened. Nevertheless, it became part of the tradition and was handed down as evidence that Jesus had both great compassion and great power.

 The raising of the dead man at Nain asserts the notion that widow should not be left alone, with no husband or son to protect her. This is a metaphor not a miracle, suggesting that the mission of the church is to protect the widow and keep her in life. This reversal of social norms and the common way of life is the miracle. The widow has entered the church, and the family of God will prevent the widow from being forces out into the margins of society.

 It is not that the widow’s son died, and returned to life; it is that Jesus appointed the church to care for the widow in place of her dead son. This is what puts Jesus directly in the tradition of the prophets, not the miracle making, the wonder working, the acts of power and the magic. It is his work as an advocate for justice in the community, his compassion and humility that mark him as the prophet that he was.

 Consider the gospel reading for today; this reading from John is piece of pure propaganda and a gross misrepresentation of Jesus’ ministry.

 The gospel writers took a story from the common tradition and embellished it, transforming a story that was suggestive of a miracle, the feeding of the multitudes, into an explicit work of magic.

 In other versions of this story the miracle of faith which led to the feeding of the people could be read as having come from the people themselves, because they were following the way that Jesus was leading them in, they shared what they had and each received a portion of what was put on the common table. The people, seeing how little food there was to be passed around, contributed to the stores of foodstuffs they each had in their possession; those without enough taking what they needed, and those with extra giving what they had in the spirit of communitarianism and hospitality that was a hallmark of the nascent church.

 The authors of John’s Gospel were not content with that; they could not resist the temptation to embellish and give the credit to Jesus’ supernatural powers for engineering a miraculous event. This editorial move undercuts the teaching of Jesus. The way he preached is a living way; it does not ask us to have faith in magic powers, but to trust in our neighbors and their basic commitment to principles of justice and compassion.

First Reading - 2 Kings 4:42-44

They Will Eat, and Have Some Left Over

A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing Elisha, the man of God, bread from the first-fruits, twenty barley loaves and fresh grain in the ear.’ ‘Give it to the people to eat’, Elisha said. But his servant replied, ‘How can I serve this to a hundred men?’ ‘Give it to the people to eat’ he insisted ‘for the Lord says this, “They will eat and have some left over.”’ He served them; they ate and had some left over, as the Lord had said.

 

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 144(145):10-11,15-18

The Greatness and Goodness of God

I will bless you day after day and tell of your wonderful deeds, O Lord.

Alleluia!

I will praise you to the heights, O God, my king –

  I will bless your name for ever and for all time.

I will bless you, O God, day after day –

  I will praise your name for ever and all time.

The Lord is great, to him all praise is due –

  he is great beyond measuring.

Generation will pass to generation the praise of your deeds,

  and tell the wonders you have done.

They will tell of your overwhelming power,

  and pass on the tale of your greatness.

They will cry out the story of your great kindness,

  they will celebrate your judgements.

The Lord takes pity, his heart is merciful,

  he is patient and endlessly kind.

The Lord is gentle to all –

  he shows his kindness to all his creation.

Let all your creatures proclaim you, O Lord,

  let your chosen ones bless you.

Let them tell of the glory of your reign,

  let them speak of your power –

so that the children of men may know what you can do,

  see the glory of your kingdom and its greatness.

Your kingdom stands firm for all ages,

  your rule lasts for ever and ever.

The Lord is faithful in all his words,

  the Lord is holy in all his deeds.

The Lord supports all who are falling,

  the Lord lifts up all who are oppressed.

All look to you for help,

  and you give them their food in due season.

In your goodness you open your hand,

  and give every creature its fill.

The Lord is just in all his ways,

  the Lord is kind in all that he does.

The Lord is near to those who call on him,

  to all those who call on him in truth.

For those that honour him,

  he does what they ask,

  he hears all their prayers,

  and he keeps them safe.

The Lord keeps safe all who love him,

  but he dooms all the wicked to destruction.

My mouth shall tell the praises of the Lord.

Let all flesh bless his holy name,

  for ever and ever.

Alleluia!

 

Second Reading – Ephesians 4:1-6

One Body, One Spirit, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God

I, the prisoner in the Lord, implore you to lead a life worthy of your vocation. Bear with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience. Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, over all, through all and within all.

 

Gospel Acclamation – John 6:63,68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life; you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

 

Alternative Acclamation – Luke 7:16

Alleluia, alleluia!

A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people.

Alleluia!

 

The Gospel According to John 6:1-15 ©

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

Jesus went off to the other side of the Sea of Galilee – or of Tiberias – and a large crowd followed him, impressed by the signs he gave by curing the sick. Jesus climbed the hillside, and sat down there with his disciples. It was shortly before the Jewish feast of Passover.

Looking up, Jesus saw the crowds approaching and said to Philip, ‘Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat?’ He only said this to test Philip; he himself knew exactly what he was going to do. Philip answered, ‘Two hundred denarii would only buy enough to give them a small piece each.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, ‘There is a small boy here with five barley loaves and two fish; but what is that between so many?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Make the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass there, and as many as five thousand men sat down. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and gave them out to all who were sitting ready; he then did the same with the fish, giving out as much as was wanted. When they had eaten enough he said to the disciples, ‘Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing gets wasted.’ So they picked them up, and filled twelve hampers with scraps left over from the meal of five barley loaves. The people, seeing this sign that he had given, said, ‘This really is the prophet who is to come into the world.’ Jesus, who could see they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, escaped back to the hills by himself.

 

A Homily – The Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)