17th Sunday of Year B, 2018

May the Eucharistic celebration of today enable you to appreciate God’s care for you and make you to be instrument of God’s providence to your sisters and brothers in need. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

The DOCTRINE AND FAITH

(2 Kings 4, 42-44; Ephesians 4, 1-6; John 6, 1-15: 17^th Sunday of Year B, 2018

         In the gospel reading of this Sunday we are presented with the narrative of the multiplication of loaves. This story is anticipated in the first reading which recounts a similar episode in the life of the prophet Elisha. An unnamed man brings the first fruits of the crop. First fruits were offered to God because they were considered the best and freshest—that portion of the produce that contained the most vibrant force of life. The man comes from Baal-shalishah, a place named for and probably devoted to Baal, the Canaanite god of fertility. It should be noted that he does not offer his crops to this particular deity, but he brings them to the man of God. Most likely the man brought the loaves and the grain either to be offered to God or to serve as shewbread, or bread of the presence, which was kept at the shrine for a time and then eaten by those who served there. Elisha directed that the bread and grain be given to the people who had gathered. Those who ministered at the shrine objected, but Elisha insisted, and his insistence overrode their objection. The miracle is remarkable. One hundred men were fed by a mere twenty loaves. This miracle reveals the bounteous generosity of God.

The narrative in the gospel story shows how Jesus fed the crowds that followed him from place to place. However, they followed Jesus less out of faith than out of the hope that they might witness the performance of some marvel or even, if they were so fortunate, that they might be the beneficiaries of one. There is no indication they came to hear his teaching, and in this particular passage Jesus does not teach. The focus here is on his wondrous power. Unlike most of the miracles of Jesus, this one was not a response to an expressed need. Jesus feeds the people, but the text does not say they were hungry. There was a much deeper reason for this miracle. Jesus took the barley loaves, gave thanks, distributed them, and then did the same with the fish. The Eucharistic allusions here are obvious. Once again the crowds were overwhelmed by Jesus. They had followed him to the other side of the lake in order to witness his exceptional power. They were not disappointed. However, they now recognise him as more than a wonder-worker. He is the long-awaited prophet like Moses (cf. Deut 15, 18), the one who would usher in the messianic age.

This Sunday’s readings invite us to reflect on the mysterious and magnanimous power of God that meets the basic need of people, which is survival. This gift is not only for the individual; it is the community that survives. Both the first reading and the Gospel passage remind us that, though we do have a responsibility to care for ourselves and for each other, it is really God who provides for us. We live in a world that feeds us and shelters us and supplies us with everything we need to grow and to thrive, and all of this comes to us from the hand of God. It is usually when we are in desperate straits (problems) that we become painfully conscious of our dependence on God, but this dependence is there all the time. God does not merely intervene when we are helpless; God’s providence is operating in our lives at all times. Both readings also underscore a second characteristic of this providence. Besides being constant, it is extravagant. God gives us more than we need. The earth is prodigal in its generosity. It yields food in abundance—food for our bodies and also food for our spirits. The soil is rich, the rains make it productive. We are warmed by the sun and cooled by breezes—all for our enjoyment and pleasure. God gives us everything we need to survive. God gives us food in due season and satisfies the desire of every living thing.

Even though providence is all God’s doing, there is, however, a human side to it in the sense that God wills that man cooperates with him as secondary causes to bring about the full realization of his will and providence.  The Catechism puts it succinctly: “God is the sovereign master of his plan. But to carry it out he also makes use of his creature’s cooperation.  This is not a sign of weakness, but rather a token of almighty God’s greatness and goodness.  For God grants his creatures not only their existence, but also the dignity of acting on their own, of being causes and principles for each other, and thus of cooperating in the accomplishment of his plan” (CCC 306). The man from Baal-shalishah in the first reading of today and the small boy in the gospel offered what they had, which were in turn, miraculously multiplied to feed the people. They became willful cooperators to bring about the realization of divine providence.  Today, God continues to give us the privilege of becoming secondary causes of the solicitude of Divine Providence. The choice is ours: to either cooperate with God’s benevolence by bringing up the little we have so that others can benefit from it and experience God’s loving care; or to keep that which we have to ourselves selfishly and refuse to make it available. Selfishness is the root cause of all the evils we have in our society; be it moral, or physical. Selfishness has to be substituted by the spirit of solidarity and sacrificial love for the neighbour in need. By eschewing selfishness and embracing solidarity we would be pitching camp alongside the solicitude of Divine Providence. But, if however, we fully choose to remain in the side of selfishness, we can never put a stop to Divine Providence. It is just that we lose the opportunity and privilege to share in the realization of Divine Providence when selfishness, covetousness, avarice and the like prevent us from opening our hands and letting others share what we have.

Living in a society that cherishes the individual and even promotes individualism, we may sometimes undervalue the communal dimension of life. While God certainly cares passionately for each one of us (not even a sparrow falls without God knowing it), God’s concern is for the whole people. In both readings the bread was distributed among the entire crowd. Narrow individualism can sometimes blind us to the fact that we are first and foremost members of a people. We would never have seen the light of day, we would not endure or develop, without others. As unique as we may be, we are a unique expression of a communal reality. God created a race; God formed a people; Jesus died for the world. By the grace of God, we belong to the community. It is not enough that we belong; it is not enough that our needs are satisfied. As members of the people of God, we are called to a manner of living that is noble and selfless. We are to live with each other in humility, and gentleness, with patience. We are to bear with one another in love. We are one with one other not merely because we belong to the same species but because we have been born to a new life in baptism. We all live by the same Spirit of Jesus; we are all united through the bond of God’s love. The bread we receive from the hand of God is more than mere barley loaves. It is the bread of full life, life in all its dimensions, life in Christ. Therefore as we participate in the Eucharistic celebration of today, let us pray that the good Lord may bestow us with his graces  that will enable us appreciate his divine care and make us participate actively in his providence for our communities and for our fellow sisters and brothers especially those in any type of need.Happy Sunday! + John I. Okoye

 (GRAPHICS  BY CHARLES OKEY. CHUKWUBIKE)