Sharing Our Bread!

(Homily 17^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. B)

     The readings of this Sunday are beaming with several themes and points for our reflection, however, adequate attention has to be taken in order not to be carried away by the miraculous multiplication in the first reading and in the gospel. Indeed, one of the major themes emanating from the readings is the bread that points symbolically to the Eucharist. More than that, we cannot remain only on the aspect of a miraculous and theological consideration of the “Bread” without adequate consideration of its anthropological implication. And as such, it is this anthropological implication of the Eucharist that opens the door to the second reading, for the miraculous multiplication and the sharing in the first reading and the gospel both point to the value of unity. Even though, the importance of the Eucharist cannot be undermined, but the Word of God of this Sunday is inviting us to pay more attention to the sharing of our bread, and this revitalizes the age long Christian call to unity. In all, the theme of unity as emergent in the second reading dovetails into that of the first reading and the Gospel: Bread-Eucharist. In a nutshell, the bread of one has to become the bread of all, and as such, the little boy of the gospel becomes for us, an exemplary figure.

     The first reading (2 Kgs. 4:42-44) from the second book of Kings is a prototype of the miraculous feedings in the gospels, especially in today’s narrative. It describes the generosity of one man from Baal-Shalishah, who gave Elisha 20 barley loaves. The prophet shared it among the hundred peoples. And upon a proper perusal, one notices a number of similarities between the passage of the first reading and that of the gospel thus: ●The provision of food to God’s people (man of God and the crowd), ●a specified amount of food, ●the objection of the food’s inadequacy, ●the man of God disregards the objection and commanded for the food to be distributed, ●the crowd ate to their fill and there was some left over. The responsorial psalm, especially in the second stanza connects the Old Testament reading and the Gospel, and once again the refrain further buttressed the common theme: “The Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.”

     From this Sunday onward, for five Sundays in a row, we are going to listen to the gospel of John, the liturgy of the Church will abandon momentarily the gospel of Mark, which is the gospel of this liturgical year. We will be offered the opportunity to reflect precisely on the renowned sixth chapter, that presents Jesus as the “Bread of life”, through his words, immolation and the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. The chapter begins with the miracle of the multiplication of bread and fish, which is not narrated with the same historical weight as in Mark (cf. 6:30-44). Rather St. John presents it as a sign that reveals the mystery of Christ. As we opined earlier the first reading serves as a background to the Gospel passage, we have seen a number of similarities in them. But however, in John there are further Christological and eschatological motifs, for instance the Eucharist and the messianic banquet. From the Eucharistic dimension, the gestures of Jesus are important: “took, gave thanks and distributed.” And from the Eschatological stand point, when the passage states that the multitude were filled, it is used elsewhere for messianic banquet. In the Johannine account, the feeding of the 5, 000 acquires several theological interpretations, therein Jesus is considered as the new Elijah, the feeding as a type of Eucharist and as a messianic banquet.

     Today in the Gospel (Jn. 6:1-15) we see another crowd, different from the crowd of the Gospel of last Sunday, even though this seems to be the continuation of last Sunday’s gospel. St. John tells us that this crowd followed Jesus because they have seen Jesus’ miracles of healing of the sick. Jesus went up to the hill, and he also discovered the crowd coming after Him. It was a solitary place and as such, it was obvious that there is no place to get food for that great number. But Jesus in His sensibility was the first to put the question to Philip “where can we buy enough food to feed all these people”? But that was to test Philip, because Jesus knew already what to do. Philip expressed that two hundred silver coins will not be sufficient to feed the crowd.  At this point Andrew cuts in “there is a boy with five loaves and two fish, but they will not be enough for this crowd”. This evangelical sensibility of Andrew is to be appreciated, this means to have a heart that sees. But in the reactions and responses of these two apostles it becomes glaring that in that circumstance it was humanly impossible to resolve the problem of feeding the crowd. And at this point, Jesus entered into action, he came into play, where human effort cannot arrive, Divine Providence does. Jesus commanded to make them sit down. Then, he made them to sit down, they were about 5,000 (without counting children and women), he collected the five loaves and two fish from the boy, gave thanks to God and distributed them to the people.

     Behold, one of the lessons emanating from this passage is the fact that this miracle reveals Jesus identity. Probably, the crowd remembered a similar miracle in the Old Testament and said “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world”, the promised Messiah. After the miracle the people recognized Jesus as the Messiah who is to come, not from a spiritual point of view, instead from a political point of view. But Jesus is not a political Saviour or one who has come to solve all their economic and physiological needs and problems. Little wonder, they wanted to make Him King by force. On seeing the miracle, they wanted to crown him King, they thought immediately of taking advantage of the whole situation, they desired for an immediate material gain, but Jesus didn’t allow himself to be conditioned by the desires, expectations and the apparent acclamation of the crowd. His major mission rather is to liberate humanity from the slavery of sin and from the power of darkness. This indeed, should serve as an example to our modern day prophets and preachers.

     This miracle is a prelude or an anticipation of the great miracle that Jesus will accomplish at the last Supper. The actions that he accomplishes here are the same he will accomplish in the cenacle during the institution of the Eucharist: “took the bread, gave thanks and distributed them”. The multiplication of bread and fish here is the anticipation of the Eucharistic bread. This miracle manifests God’s providence to his people, where man cannot arrive, God’s providence and omnipotence can, as it is revealed in Christ. Many a times we are troubled because of the many problems and hardships that torment us, sometimes we wonder if we can come out of them, rather we need to have trust in God and to wait for His help in patience. The two episodes in the two readings confirm an age long biblical truth that what is impossible to man, is possible to God (cf. Gen. 18:14; Jer. 32:17; Mt. 19:26; Lk. 1:37; Mk. 10:27).

     Be that as it may, the presence and reference to the boy with five loaves and two fish is revelative of the fact that in our journey of faith, in our encounter with God and in the reception of God’s blessings and favour, God does not substitute man, rather he uses him as an instrument, (the boy with the five loaves and two fish) God needs our collaboration to help us. For this St. Augustine opined: “God who made us without our help will not save us without our help”. On the other hand, the willingness and promptness of the boy in putting into action the words of Jesus he just heard with immediacy, cannot but propel us to become more generous and willing to share what we have, no matter how little. This episode calls our attention to the rediscovery of the value and task of solidarity with our brothers in need, for Jesus used the bread and fish of the little boy. He could have performed the miracle single-handedly, but he wants our cooperation, he wants a brother to help a brother.

     The second reading (Eph. 4:1-6) is taken from the second part of St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. The letter to the Ephesians could be divided into two parts, the first part: chapter 1-3 deal with doctrinal issues, chapter 4-6 are parenetical, that is, and they contain ethical exhortations. As such, the passage of today’s reading is the beginning of the parenesis. While the first part sets forth the theme of the unity of the Jews and Gentiles in the one body, the parenesis begins with an exhortation to unity. And that notwithstanding, the exhortation to unity points back to the theological foundation of that appeal. In that bid, the “ought” is based on the present reality, on the “is”. The Apostle affirms that there is one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. Therein, the imperative to unity rests on the indicative, and as such, unity is both a gift and a task.

     St. Paul delineated some comportments “worthy” of the Christian vocation by listing a number of virtues that every disciple of Christ and every community of faith have to practice, and they are: lowliness and meekness, patience, forbearing one another in love and the task “to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (v.3). As a matter of fact, St. Paul derives the exhortation of the conduct of life worthy of the Christian vocation from his doctrine on the church, as a mystical body of Christ. The Church according to St. Paul is “one body” of which Christ is the Head, and the believers in Him are the members, and it is animated and vivified by one vital principle: The Holy Spirit. He gives it a theological undertone thus: “one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all” (v.6). Indeed from the foregoing, we see the reasons why Christians have to live in the unity of the Spirit, and in peace (cf. Eph. 2:14-17), for by means of his blood, Christ has “broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart” (Eph. 2:14) and “through Him, then, we both in the one Spirit have free access to the Father” (Eph. 2:18).

     Drawing the issue further, since the first reading and the gospel talked about the Eucharist in a latent and symbolic manner, and upon reflection on the second reading revolving around the theme of unity, we cannot but recognize the Eucharist as the sacrament of unity. Thus Eucharist and unity are the thread that runs through all the readings of today. Truly, we can show adequate understanding of the meaning of the Eucharist when we do away with our selfishness (like the little boy of the Gospel) and embrace unity and solidarity, for it is by sharing our own bread that we can become authentic sharers in the “bread of life” and in that eternal banquet. May God help us to become more generous and sensitive to the needs of others! May the Eucharistic Bread we share enliven the values of love and unity amongst us!! Amen!!!

(Fr. Vitus M.C. Unegbu, SC)