July 26^th 2015. Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Gospel: John 6:1-15

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

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GOSPEL                                  John 6:1-15

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.
THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . John’s Gospel reveals that this story of the multiplication of the loaves and fish contains within it the very secret of Easter! The story of Easter is the story of salvation, a series of events in which God manifests his power in situations where humanity comes up against a brick wall. How often do we say things like: “I have done what I can, but it’s no use. I can’t go any further. The situation is lost. The relationship is doomed. We’ve done our part, now all we can do is wash our hands of the situation.” But if we look at life properly, we see that it is a series of situations in which God’s paternal providence is powerfully at work, in small things as well as in large. It is the surprises of God that make life meaningful and beautiful! And it is a fundamental axiom of the Christian life that God wishes to make use of our meagre contribution in order to manifest his plentiful bounty. This is the perennial mystery of Easter at work in our lives. From this Easter point of view, the desperation of the situation is not a reason for despair. Five loaves and two fishes are not a motive for resignation to defeat; they are the perfect opportunity for the loving providence of God to be manifested. If my life is merely the collection of the logistics and means that I have at my disposal, then I am indeed in a desperate situation! But if I take the meagre five loaves and two fishes that I am able to contribute and offer them willingly to the Lord, then he will manifest his providence and bring them to great fruit.

John heralds the fact that there is something in this story of the multiplication of loaves that is key to the mystery of Easter? Just what is this connection with Easter?

There is an evident parallel between the first reading and the Gospel this Sunday. In both texts a similar phrase is used in response to the same problem. In John’s Gospel, the Apostles are confronted with the question of how to feed the multitude of people who have been following to Jesus. Andrew points to the five loaves and two fishes and says, “What is this among so many people?” Similarly, in the first reading (which recounts the multiplication of bread by the prophet Elisha), the servant refers to the loaves that they have in their possession and remarks, “How can this be sufficient for one hundred men?” How often in the challenges of Christian life do we discover that our resources are insufficient! We regularly find ourselves in circumstances where there seems to be no human solution. And the significance of this Gospel story for our lives in general is heralded by a key phrase towards the beginning of the passage: “It was shortly before the Jewish feast of Passover”. John wants us to know that there is something in this story that holds the key to Easter itself; that Easter, in fact, is a manifestation of God, a passage from the human dimension to the divine dimension. From the time that the Lord led Israel out of Egypt, the Passover experience is a reminder that God can bring about that which is absolutely impossible for humans alone. The story of salvation is a series of interventions by God in which he manifests his power.

How often we fail to invoke the transcendent! We approach problems from the perspective of our own capabilities and capacities. If the problem cannot be resolved in this way, we tend to give up, wash our hands of it, resign ourselves to failure.

We have the tendency to try to keep our lives contained within that which is controllable and manageable. The challenges that we undertake are measured to fit us. We should not be surprised therefore if many people lose the faith and fail to maintain a sense of the extraordinary. There is a tendency on our part to invoke the power of Easter only when the situation is desperate. No one will deny that it is important in life to be reasonable, prudent and realistic. These qualities are fundamental to a human way of behaviour. But salvation and the manifestation of God are always beyond that which we are capable of thinking or doing. If we rewrite this text so that it no longer reflects the mystery of Easter, it can be quite revealing for the way that we commonly approach problems. Let us imagine that Jesus looks at the crowd and doesn’t do the Easter thing, but says instead, “These people want food but we have no bread. Maybe we should send them away. It would be better if we didn’t take their problems upon ourselves. What do you think Philip?” Philip shrugs his shoulders and admits that they do not have sufficient money to procure food for such a crowd. Andrew is in agreement, pointing to the fact that they have only five loaves and two fishes. “Okay!” Jesus announces loudly. “It’s time to head home everybody! It’s time to go and look after yourselves! We can only do so much. Now you are on your own!” Isn’t this exactly our attitude when we are confronted with so many situations in life? We will go so far, but no further. We do what we are able but do not invoke the transcendent. We do not have faith in the surprises of God.

Life is actually made up of incidences of the surprising providence of God, if we could learn to appreciate it properly. From the point of view of the providence of the Lord, five loaves and two fishes are not a reason for despair but a perfect opportunity for a fruitful cooperation between humanity and God. The very meagreness of our capacities becomes a manifestation of the provident nature of God.

But life is actually made up of these surprises, if we learn to look at it properly, and it is the surprises of God that make life beautiful! In small things and in large things we have the opportunity to experience the paternity of God, his providence, his surprising action in our lives. In the real Gospel story, Jesus does not think like a son of man but like the Son of God. Five loaves and two fish are a good point of departure. It is a fundamental axiom of Christian action that God makes use of our meagre contribution in order to manifest his plenty. God always operates in this fashion; Easter is always of this sort. We cannot reduce our lives to a collection of logistics – we must open ourselves constantly to the power and the providence of God which often surpasses all measurement. How can a man and woman marry each other if they do not believe in the “extra” that God supplies to the relation? The purely human basis of such relations is always lacking. How can a man or woman consecrate their lives to God if they do not focus continually on this transcendent aspect? How can a couple bring a child into this threatening world if they do not have faith in something that goes beyond their capacities to provide and protect? How can we attempt to build the church if we do not believe in the surprising providence of God? All that we have in our pockets is our meagre contribution of the five loaves and two fish. But let us give it willingly, and from our modest input God will bring his fruit in plenty.