DAILY- HOMILY

July 26, 2015 - 17th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 

Cycle B, Green

2 Kgs 4: 42 – 44 / Eph 4:1 – 6 / Jn 6:1 - 15  

First Reading: 2 Kgs 4: 42 – 44

     A man came from Baal-shalishad bringing bread and wheat to the man of God. These were from the first part of the harvest, twenty loaves of barley and wheat. Elisha told him, "Give the loaves to these men that they may eat."

     His servant said to him, "How am I to divide these loaves among one hundred men?" Elisha insisted, "Give them to the men that they may eat, for Yahweh says: They shall eat and have some left over." So the man set it before them; and they ate and had some left, as Yahweh had said.

Second Reading: Eph 4: 1 – 6

     Therefore I, the prisoner of Christ, invite you to live the vocation you have received. Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love.

     Make every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of peace. Let there be one body and one spirit, for God, in calling you, gave the same Spirit to all. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God, the Father of all, who is above all and works through all and is in all.

Gospel: Jn 6:1 - 15 

     After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, near Tiberias, and large crowds followed him because of the miraculous signs they saw when he healed the sick. So he went up into the hills and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

     Then lifting up his eyes, Jesus saw the crowds that were coming to him and said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread so that these people may eat?" He said this to test Philip, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred silver coins would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a piece."

     Then one of Jesus' disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?"

     Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." There was plenty of grass there so the people, about five thousand men, sat down to rest. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks and distributed them to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish and gave them as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten enough, he told his disciples, "Gather up the pieces left over, that nothing may be lost."

     So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with bread, that is with pieces of the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

     When the people saw this sign that Jesus had just given, they said, "This is really the Prophet, he who is to come into the world." Jesus realized that they would come and take him by force to make him king; so he fled to the hills by himself.

Reflection:

     The importance of the miracle of multiplication of loaves and fish to feed thousands of those who came to listen to Jesus is highlighted by its being told in the four Gospels. The multiplication of loaves and fish brings us back to God feeding the wandering Israelites n the desert with manna and quail and connects with Jesus' discourse on the bread of life in the Gospel of John and the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper.

     For the wandering Jews "in the evening Yahweh will give you meat to eat and in the morning bread to satisfy your hunger (Ex 16: 8). "Between the two evenings you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have bread to your heart's content; then you shall know that I am Yahweh, your God!" (Ex 16: 12)

     In his discourse on the bread of life, Jesus said, ""I am the bread of life. Though your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, they died but here you have the bread which comes from heaven so that you may eat of it and not die." (Jn 6: 49 -50). "My flesh is really food and my blood is drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood, live in me and I in them. . . This is the bread which came down from heaven; unlike that of your ancestors, who ate and later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever." (Jn 6: 55 – 58)

     The Gospel writers deliberately used the same words for the multiplication of loaves and fish and the institution of the Eucharist. In John's account, "Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks and distributed them to those who were seated." (Jn 6:11). In Mark's account, "And Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish and, raising his eyes to heaven, he pronounced the blessing, broke the loaves and handed them to his disciples to distribute to the people" (Mk 6: 41).

     At the Last Supper, "while they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. And he said, "Take this, it is my body." (Mk 14: 22)  And after the resurrection, the two disciples on the way to Emmaus recognized the Lord in the breaking of the bread: "When they were at table, he took the bread, said a blessing, broke it and gave each a piece." (Lk 24: 30) "Then the two told what had happened on the road and how Jesus made himself known when he broke bread with tem." (Lk 24: 35)

     St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians summarizes our belief in the Eucharist, "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion with the blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not communion with the body of Christ? The bread is one, and so we, though many, form one body, sharing the one bread." (1 Cor 10: 16-17) 

WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:

BIRTHDAY

     NEIL LEO M. CASTILLO

     ELIZA KAMILLE G. BACAS

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

     ROGELIO & EDITA SALONGA

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most. 

Have a good day!

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