Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
(This Sunday am beginning a five-week series of homilies. For the next five weeks we will hear from the Bread of Life discourse in the gospel of John. Since the name of our Family of Parishes is "Bread of Life/Pan de Vida" Family of Parishes, across all the five churches, I will focus on this Eucharistic theme and draw some practical implications as a Family of Parishes).
The parallels between the stories of the multiplication of bread in today first reading from 2 Kgs 4:42-44 and the gospel of John 6:1-15 are truly stunning, especially since the two books were written about 650 years apart. 2 Kings was written around 550 BC and the gospel of John was written around 95-100 AD.
First, both Elisha and Jesus were given barley loves which were then multiplied to feed the people. Second, a man from Baal-shalisha offered twenty fist sized loaves to Elisha which would have not been enough to feed a hundred people. In the gospel reading, it was a boy who offered his five loaves and two fish to Jesus, which was clearly not enough for a crowd of more than five thousand. Third, in both the passages the multiplication is inspired by hunger. There was a famine in the time of Elisha and Jesus too encountered a hungry crowd who had gathered to listen to him. Fourth, Elisha’s servants were protested about the twenty loaves being distributed to a hundred people in the same way that Jesus’ disciples expressed their frustration. Fifth, Elisha commanded the barley loaves to be distributed despite the reservation, and Jesus too asked the people to be seated on the grass for the bread and fish to be distributed. Finally, in both instances there was enough food for everyone and plenty of leftovers.
The Bread of Life discourse gives us much to ponder upon. As Catholics, the Bread of Life discourse connects to the source and summit of our worship – the Eucharist. But there is more. In the next five weeks, we will explore the depths of the discourse that will enliven and enrich our faith. Today, we will focus on hunger, both physical and spiritual.
Satisfying Hunger is a Prophetic and Messianic Ministry
On the most basic level, both Elisha and Jesus were responding to the hunger of the people. During Elisha’s time there was a famine in the land. While in the gospel of John the multiplication is related to the Passover, both in of Mark and Matthew, the multiplication is necessitated by the hunger of the people who have been with Jesus for three days. In Luke too, the multiplication takes place at the end of a long day, when people were hungry.
The miracle of the multiplication of loaves was a response the hunger of the people. Responding to hunger around the world is a holy task! Each day, around 25,000 people, including more than 10,000 children, die from hunger and related causes. Some 854 million people worldwide are estimated to be undernourished. Right now, in Gaza starvation is being used as a war strategy. Children have starved to death. There is something called the 'politics of hunger,' meaning that those who control food supplies control power. In Haiti, in South Sudan, in Yemen, violence and resulting hunger has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. For that matter, the food pantries in each of our parishes are busy. There is no war here in Dayton but there are hungry people in our own city, a city in the richest countries in the world.
Our intervention for the hunger crisis is critical. Responding to hunger is a prophetic thing. Responding to hunger is a sign of Messianic fulfillment. Often in scripture, eternity is pictured as a feast of endless rich food and choice wines. When we respond to hunger we capture a little bit for eternity for our times.
Hunger of the Soul
Whereas the multiplication of loaves is the only found in all the four gospels, the Bread of Life discourse is unique to the Gospel of John. In John, when the crowds kept following Jesus, he made a transition from the multiplied bread to the “the food the endures for eternal life”. (Jn 6:27).
But there is a movement from the physical, to the spiritual, and then back to the real that is very interesting. Jesus begins with multiplying the barley loaves and fish. But when the people sought him out the next day, Jesus spiritualized the miracle by saying, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (Jn 6:26). This confused some of Jesus’ followers. There was even a controversy about the meaning of “Bread of Life,” especially since the Bread of Life was equated with the flesh and blood of the Son of Man. The crowd asked, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” They were struggling with the spiritual. But Jesus’ answer brought the realism back to the discourse. He said, “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink” (Jn 6:55). In other words, even though the Bread of Life is a spiritual reality, it is as physical and real as the bread that Jesus multiplied.
This has implications for us. Food for our bodily nourishment is indispensable. But then, there is also the spiritual hunger. The Bread of Life discourse compels us to pay attention to the appetite of the soul. The temptation to relegate our spiritual needs to the periphery, or to fail to treat spiritual needs with the realism it demands is contrary to the teachings in the Bread of Life discourse. Spiritual needs are spiritual, but that does not mean that it is not real. To lose focus on our spiritual life is to surrender our eternity. Jesus is inviting us to pay attention to our bodies but to pay as much attention to the spiritual hunger of the soul.
The Bread of Life in Real Life
The Bread of Life/Pan de Vida Family of Parishes is hoping to focus on two practical implications – one physical and one spiritual.
First, our Family of Parishes hopes to collect 5000 items for our different food pantries to symbolize the multiplication of loaves and fish. This will provide nutritional support to those people in our community will benefit from it. Together as the five churches within the Bread of Life/Pan de Vida Family of Parishes, we too can multiply bread for those who are hungry in our community. Each church will have a dedicated space to drop off items at the weekends. I invite each one of you for the next five weeks to bring whatever you can provide to stock our food pantries. We will keep you informed each weekend about the progress we have made. May God multiply the blessing that will come out of our efforts.
Second, this Fall, just like last year, we are organizing another Family of Parishes retreat for all our parishioners. Last year, the theme was “One Bread, One Body.” More than 600 people attended the retreat. The theme for this year’s retreat is “Prayer.” In preparation for the Jubilee year in 2025, Pope Francis had asked that 2024 be commemorated as a Year of Prayer. We will gather in late October to spend a morning in prayer and reflection. You will receive your invitation in the mail. This way, I believe that as the Bread of Life Family of Parishes we can grow spiritually even as we fashion ourselves into a family of parishes.
As we celebrate this Eucharist, let us come with the hunger of our souls to this altar. There will be a miracle on the altar very soon. Ordinary bread will become the Bread of Life and simple wine will become the Drink of Salvation. As God satisfies the hunger of our souls, may be satisfy the hunger of the world. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph