Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

Week before last, I had the most self-revealing experience. The staff at Immaculate and I were driving back after lunch at the neighborhood tavern. When we reached the parking lot, I saw a woman walking toward the Church. Cigarette in one hand, a Taco Bell packet in another, funky hair, overweight, shabbily dressed and a handbag over her shoulder – this woman gave no impression of integrity. A number of thoughts crossed my mind – the most prominent was, “Goodness, gracious!” A minute later the rectory bell rang and for some reason, I opened the door. There stood the same woman. She asked for the priest and I said to myself, “I am not going to give any money.” Well, she did not need any money. She asked if I would pray with here because she was having some spiritual struggles. I took her in, heard her story, prayed with her, and she left in tears thanking me for taking the time to pray with her. Generally, I consider myself to be someone who is not prejudiced, not judgmental, and someone with immense compassion. But, that day I came to know how prejudiced, how judgmental and how unempathetic I was. Why couldn’t compassion have been my instinctive response? The way I look at it, this Sunday’s gospel is the practical implication that followed from last week’s gospel. In last Sunday’s gospel, Jesus “saw the vast crowd and his heart was moved with compassion for them… (Mk 6:34). And then Jesus began to teach them many things. Today’s gospel reading is a continuation of that same theme. Jesus taught till it was late (Mk 6:35). Apparently, people stayed back and listened to Jesus because he was catering to their need for the Divine. But then, just as Jesus was sensitive to the spiritual vacuum in people’s lives, he also became sensitive to their physical hunger. In other words, Jesus’ compassion was not some shallow feeling. It had depth. This was instinctive, genuine, divine compassion. With absolutely no resources at hand Jesus begins to make arrangements to feed the thousands of people gathered there – an arrangement that ends up in the miracle of the multiplication of loaves.

There are many interpretations of the miracle and I would like to take two interpretations and propose practical implications for each of these interpretations.

a) Interpretation One. Jesus once said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 18:3) On that day, when there were thousands of hungry people, it was a little boy who offered his food to be shared - two loaves and five fish. This interpretation says that each of the people present there had enough bread for themselves. But nobody wanted to share it, First, because it would not be enough; and second, perhaps because they themselves would not get to eat. However, seeing the boy offer his share to the crowd they were so touched that, that each one opened his own bundle and shared it. There was enough for all and extra.

Practical Implication One. Together, Jesus and this little boy give us an important lesson. When the compassion of God and the generosity of the human beings meet there is got to be a miracle. Living in a world where we are trying to find life on mars when thousands are facing death by starvation, living in a world where one person has a fleet of cars while another cannot earn his daily bread, living in a world where selfishness is a virtue and self-giving a vice, Jesus together with this boy give us a lesson in compassion and generosity. All of us know that the world produces more than enough to feed every hungry mouth. All of us know that there are enough resources in the world to provide each person’s needs. What people lack today are the compassion of Jesus and the generosity of the little boy.

b) Interpretation Two. Many people reject the first interpretation because in their minds, it robs Jesus of his Messianic, divine, and miraculous powers. They say that this was a miracle in the most literal sense. For instance, today’s gospel suggests that “he (Jesus) knew what he himself was going to do” (Mt 6:6) Moreover, if we pair the first reading with the Gospel reading then together these readings seems to suggest that there indeed was an unexplainable miracle. There is a deep spiritual value to attributing to God all the power, glory, wisdom, compassion and might. For God, all things are possible. However, I do not want to ignore the fact that in the scriptures most miracles are a result of human-divine cooperation. For the Red Sea to part, Moses had to raise his hands over the waters; for Mary to conceive, she has to say “Yes.” For the woman with hemorrhage to heal, she had to touch Jesus’ clothes; Jesus would often say to the people healed, “Your faith has saved you.” In the same way, Jesus’ miracle of the multiplication of loaves resulted from the little boy’s generosity.

Practical Implication Two. Where do we want to see God’s miracle today? Do we want world hunger to disappear? If so, what are we going to offer to God for that miracle to happen? Do we want there to be peace in the world? If so, what are we going to do about it? Do we want people with terminal illnesses to be healed? If so, what kind of prayers are we willing to offer? That is the question – What little can we offer to God? If we offer the little we can God can turn it into the biggest miracle. Let us believe that with our generosity, all things are possible for God.

c) Practical Implication Three. We live in a very uncompassionate world. I can’t believe that our politicians are fighting whether all people can be health secure. We kill people so that there can be peace. We are encouraged to spend more and more on ourselves while they give us $7.25 an hour as minimum wage. Hear what St. Paul has to say to us in the second reading. He says, “I urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love…” (Eph 4:1-2). This is the exact opposite of who I was last week. Let us try this week to live the message of Paul. Let us inculcate the compassion of Jesus and the generosity of the little boy. If we do so, we can expect many miracles.

This Eucharist is a reenactment of the multiplication of loaves. Just like the little boy, we bring before God a little bread and little wine. May the bread and wine symbolize our generosity. And may the compassion of Jesus transform them for us into “Bread of Life”. Amen.

- Fr. Satish Joseph