Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 26, 2015
Gospel: Jn 6:1-15
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd
followed him, because they saw the signs (1) he was performing on the sick. Jesus
went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish
feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large
crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for
them to eat?” He said this to test (2) him, because he himself knew what he was
going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would
not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew,
the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five
barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said,
“Have the people recline
(3).” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men
reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave
thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of
the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his
disciples,
“Gather the fragments (4) left over, so that nothing will be
wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with
fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet (5),
the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going
to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain
alone.
(http://www.usccb.org)
The difficult words
(1) Signs are miracles.
(2) To test means to say something in order to see how someone responds.
(3) To recline means to sit
back and relax.
(4) Fragments are scraps or
pieces.
(5) Prophet was another name
for the Messiah, God’s messenger.
This week’s spotlight
The multiplication of the loaves
The 13th-century saint, Thomas Aquinas, gave a good
explanation of the multiplication of the loaves. After Jesus fed the crowd, he
asked his apostles to gather the leftovers, and they filled twelve baskets.
Jesus wanted the twelve apostles to give the rest of the bread to people who
were not present. Thomas Aquinas tells us: "Jesus is teaching his apostles
about service to others, so that they can proclaim their faith in the Trinity
to every corner of the world."
The Real Presence
This expression is the translation of a complicated
word: "transubstantiation." It means that Jesus makes himself truly
present in the bread and wine when they are consecrated by the priest, who
repeats the words and gestures of Jesus: "This is my body... this is my
blood." This miracle takes place at every Mass. Jesus is there in each
host. Although he is present in millions of hosts at the same time, he is
always whole in each host. This is one of the great mysteries of our faith. It
is why our First Communion is such an important moment, when Jesus himself
comes inside of us for the first time.
Reflection
He nourishes us abundantly
In this Sunday’s Gospel, a crowd is
following Jesus. They have seen his miracles and realize that he is not an
ordinary man. When the people are hungry and it is time for dinner, Jesus knows
that he must nourish everyone, but there are only five loaves of bread and two
fishes for five thousand people! That doesn’t worry Jesus though. He gives
thanks to God and multiplies the food so that everyone is able to have their
fill. What an amazing miracle! The food is so abundant that there are even
leftovers. The leftovers are gathered up because it is out of the question to
let them go to waste. Take a look at the number of baskets that remain. There
aren’t six or fourteen, but twelve. There are twelve baskets of food left over,
just as there are twelve apostles. These twelve friends of Jesus will set out
on the roads after his resurrection to tell others what they’ve heard Jesus say
and seen him do. As his first priests, the apostles will “feed” people
spiritually by preaching in Jesus’ name and giving them his body and blood in
the Eucharist.
Discussion questions
1. What miracle did Jesus do in the Gospel today?
2. Where did he do it?
3. Whom did Jesus ask “Where can we buy enough food for them?”?
4. What did Jesus use to do the miracle?
5. Who offered the bread and fishes?
6. How many baskets of leftover were collected?
7. What do we learn from the boy in the Gospel?
Praying after Communion
After
receiving Holy Communion,
you can say this prayer silently to yourself. If you
have not yet
received your First Communion, you can still say this prayer because of your desire to
receive Jesus.
Father, through Jesus, in
communion with the whole Church, I thank you for coming into my heart. Through
baptism, your Son made us his brothers and sisters as well as your children.
May this communion with his body and blood help us to know that we are all part
of your family, so that we may one day be together in your kingdom.
Crossword Puzzle
