Homily: Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (John 6:1-15) “All Is A Gift”

          In the Gospel of John, no Eucharistic meal is mentioned when the disciples gathered the night before Jesus died. What we have instead for Eucharistic story, is the story of the multiplication of the loaves, followed by the Bread of Life discourse which happens very early in the Gospel (Chapter 5). John’s story has a few differences from what we read in Matthew, Mark and Luke. The miracle is mentioned in all four Gospels, which means it is very important.

            A big contrast in the multiplication story in John is the attitude of Jesus. In the synoptic Gospels, Jesus seems to challenge his disciples to feed the crowds. In the Gospel of Mark 6:37, for example, Jesus says to his apostles, “You give them something to eat.” The apostles distribute the loaves and the fishes while Jesus sits passively by. John conveys the story differently. In John, Jesus tells the disciples to sit down with the rest of the people. Jesus does all the serving. Those who partake of the meal do nothing. Jesus takes care of everything.

            What was the attitude of those who partook of the meal? Was it different than what we come here with? We can be having several feelings. Do we have the attitude that the Eucharist is our reward for being faithful Christians? Have we the idea that God owes us something because we are such good people? A lot of people have turned down the free meal Jesus offers us right now. We could say that church is not all that full because of the pandemic, but were Masses full before the pandemic? What might transform a person’s attitude?

            A story is told of a man who was on a hunting expedition in Africa. One day before dawn, the man went off by himself to hunt for something that he might fix for breakfast. To his surprise he bagged two turkeys. He slung them over his shoulders. He started walking back to camp. As he walked along, he had a strange sensation that he was being followed. Was it a lion? Perhaps it was a bandit.

            He hid behind a tree with his rifle at the ready. Suddenly he saw who was following. It was a naked adolescent boy. The boy was obviously starving. The hunter was moved with pity. He took the birds off his shoulder and tossed them at the boy. He pointed at the boy. He pointed at the birds. He wanted the boy to take them. To the hunter’s surprise the boy backed away. He would not grab the turkeys. Instead, he held out his hands. The man finally grabbed the birds walked up to the boy and placed them in the boy’s hands. 

            The story gives us a lot to think about. As one spiritual writer has said this story is a short course in Moral Theology. The story sums up the entire teaching of Jesus and the Ten Commandments. If we, like the boy, would always wait until things were given to us rather than constantly grasping for things, then we would never break a single commandment.

            If we think back on the story of Adam and Eve, we remember how God gave Adam and Eve everything in the Garden of Eden so that they might have what they needed to live in comfort. Adam and Eve did not get in trouble until they decided to take what hadn’t been given to them, the forbidden fruit. Every blessing is a gift. We are given possessions which we use for a while and then they are passed on to someone else. We know that when we die, we will take nothing with us, so why do we hang on to material things so tightly? How might our lives change if we saw everything as a gift from God we don’t really deserve? Would people treat mother earth differently for example?

            Sometimes people will say to me when they leave church. “Thank you for the Eucharist Father.” But I am here today to receive as you receive. I only preside at Mass. Jesus gives us the gift of the Eucharist. The Body of Christ gathered as one gives us the Eucharist. The Church of Christ feeds us each time we come to Mass.

            How did those people feel on the mountainside 2,000 years ago? Did they say, “Well it is only right this rabbi feeds us since we came out here to this God forsaken place to listen to him”? Did they say, “Where is dessert?” Were they dissatisfied with what they got? Did they ask, "where do I pay the check"? Or were they humbled by the gift that they received? The people had done nothing to deserve the gift. Are we humbled by the Eucharist we receive this morning? We hold out our hands. We are naked and starving, distraught about so many things. Jesus places the Bread of Life in our hands. Hopefully, we don’t walk away thinking God owes me something for being here, but we walk away thanking God for a gift we have received. 

Reflection Questions:

1. Do I feel like God should give me things? Do I have a sense that must earn my way?
2. How do I feel when I receive a gift? How would Jesus respond?

Dear Parishioners,

          We received word recently that the Annual Diocesan Appeal will be held in September. The monies are used to offset the cost of various ministries in the diocese and for diocesan administration. This year our goal will be approximately $115,000. This is six thousand dollars less than last year. The fact that we made our goal last year was a big help to the finance of the parish. We will be giving further information soon.

          Each year we have a mission collection. Sometimes we ask a missionary to come preach and take up a collection. The money usually goes to their religious order. The past few years we have asked Fr. Matthew to make an appeal for the Society of African Missions. Fr. Matthew had great success with his appeal last year.

          There are a number of priests from the society who are ministering in our diocese. Locally Fr. Eric is at Christ the King and Fr. Matthew is serving as a Parochial Vicar here. If we did not have these missionary priests, I do not know how the diocese could fill the need for personnel. Your gifts to the mission collection not only help the church in Africa, but it is also an expression of gratitude for the work of the Society of African Missions locally. You should be receiving an appeal letter soon.

          May Our Lady and all the Angels and Saints watch over you.

          Fr. Mark

P.S. Thank you to the volunteers who staged our Vacation Bible School this year. It looked like the children had a great time. It was nice to have another activity which brings people back to our campus.