Happy Sunday!
DOCTRINE
AND FAITH
(2 Kings 4, 42-44;Ephesia n 4, 1-6; John 6, 1-15: 17th Sunday of Year B, 25th July, 2021)
On This Sunday the Gospel of John presents the story
of the multiplication of the loaves to us. This account is prepared in the
first reading, by a similar episode of the multiplication of food. The second
reading invites us to conduct ourselves in a way worthy of our vocation: It is
not enough for us to welcome the food that the Lord gives us in abundance, but
we must also live in a way worthy of our vocation, thanks precisely to this
food.
John tells us the episode of the multiplication of the
loaves, a very well-known episode, which is also presented to us in the other
gospels (Mathew and Mark tell it twice). In it we note, first of all, Jesus’
initiative. He had set out with his disciples to go to the other shore of the
lake of galilee and find some tranquility, but he was joined by a large number
of people. Jesus, immediately, worries about this folly, and ask Phillip: where
can we buy bread so that this people have something to eat? Philip replies that
a large amount of money would not be enough to feed all those people. Another
disciple, Andrew, observes that there is a boy who has five barley loaves and
two fishes. However, with realism he adds: but what is this for so many people?
Jesus takes the initiative. He makes the people to sit down. Then he takes the
loaves, gives thanks to God for them and distributes them. And it does the same
with the two fishes. The distribution continues, without the food ever failing.
The whole crowd was satisfied. At the end Jesus recommends to collect the
leftover pieces, so that nothing is lost. The abundance of leftover pieces
makes us understand the importance of this miracle. Twelve baskets were filled
with the pieces of the five barley loaves leftover from those who have eaten
them. It is a truly extraordinary fact! People were impressed by this miracle
and begin to say: this is indeed the prophet that is to come into the world!
The Jews were waiting for the last times not just any prophet, but the prophet,
who had been promised by God. In the book of Deuteronomy God had promised to
give his people a prophet similar to Moses (cf. Deut. 18,15,18), but at the end
of this book, the author observed: a prophet like Moses has no arisen in Israel
anymore (Deut. 34,10). Therefore, the Jews were waiting for the prophets of the
end times, who was to come in the world to prepare the people or the fulfilment
of God’s plan, which is a plan of peace, joy and happiness. Now people
recognize Jesus as such a prophet. In fact in the acts of the apostle, Peter,
in one of his discourses, applies his head of Deuteronomy to Jesus, saying that
he is the prophet announced and therefore, we must listen to his words with
docility (cf. acts 3, 22-23). Jesus’ reaction was surprising. At first he has
shown himself to be welcoming, he was concerned about helping this great crowd;
in the end, however, he breaks his bond with it, runs away, yes retires to the
mountain. Why? Because he knows that they were about to come and get him to
make him king, and he intend not to consent to this project. He did not come
into the world to become an earthly king. So now he has the courage to
disappoint the crowd, after having satisfied them so generously. Jesus’
attitude is a teaching/lesson for us. The Lord however satisfies our desires by
granting wonderful graces to us: at other times, however, he refuses to give
them to us, he disappoints us, but even this refusal of his is inspired by
love.
This too, is a grace, a negative grace, if we can say
so. In fact, the lord acts like this to detach us from our too human and too
interested projects. And it is important for us to be detached from these
projects. When they are too selfish, they hinder our spiritual progress, which
must always be a progress in love and, therefore, in detachment, and
gratuitousness’. So, the Lord demonstrates his love for us in this two ways: by
giving us the abundance of his and asking us for renunciations.
In the second reading, Paul exhorts us to behave in a manner worthy of our vocation. We must then be docile to the Lord and welcome his graces: be it those that are pleasing to us or those that require some renunciation/sacrifice from us. Above all, the apostles invite us to bear each other with love: I urge you to behave […] with all humility, meekness and patience, bearing each other with love. For us, this is difficult. Among us there are always reasons for division, dissent and disagreement. The life of relationship is not easy, because among people, there are so much difference in temperaments, orientation and taste, therefore there are many opportunities to be irritated by others, or to irritate others. But our vocation is to live in love, which involves living in unity. Love does not accept divisions, but brings unity among people. Paul insists a lot on this point: the gifts of the Lord are given to us for progress in love and, therefore, are aimed at the unity of the spirit, through the bond of peace. The apostle proclaims: one body, one spirit as one in hope [… ]; one lord, one faith, one baptism. One God the father of all. All the gifts of God pushes us to fraternal union, and we must not accept reasons for divisions, conflicts and tensions. Deep down we are all united by the grace of God; therefore, we have a fundamental reason to get along. We know that God loves all men; and then, to be with him, we too must love all our brothers. The reasons that go in the direction of division are of much less importance than those that unite us. We must insist more on everything that unites us than on everything that divides, and be aware that some interests are worth giving up for the sake of peace, unity and agreements with our brothers. With episodes of the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus shows us his generosity, but he also makes us to understand that we must commit ourselves to love – even though, this costs us – in other to fully correspond to his gifts. In fact, not only has he multiplies the loaves, but in the Eucharist, he multiplies himself every day for us, to become our interior and spiritual food, which connects us in union with God and unites us with all our brothers.
+John I. Okoye
graphics by charles
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