Reflection on the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the first reading, Elisha feeds the people with 20 barley loaves. When the servant protested that it was not enough, Elisha replied simply,  “Give it to the people to eat. For thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and there shall be some left over.’” And when they had eaten, there was some left over. The Gospel passage for today tells of a similar event, important enough to be the only event repeated in all four Gospels.           

The crowd has followed Jesus across the Sea of Galilee. He chooses a place on the hillside to teach them. So often, the place of teaching or meeting with God is on a hillside or mountain. Moses received the Ten Commandments, the transfiguration, the beatitudes, all took place on a mountain, a place to encounter God. We don’t know how long the people had been there listening and asking questions, but Jesus realized they must be hungry. Their hunger is not just for food. It is much greater than that. They are hungry for a leader, for understanding, for a better way to live their lives. 

I would have reacted as Phillip did – how are we going to feed 5,000 people? Anyone would find that a daunting task. Andrew helps out by bringing a boy with fish and bread, the lunch his mother probably fixed for him, but Phillip is still in doubt. Jesus in his ever-calm way invites everyone to sit down, blesses the bread and fish and passes them around. As with Elijah, there is some left over.

All of this takes place in the context of the upcoming Passover celebration, including memories of Moses leading the people out of Egypt into the desert where God fed the people with what was available and at hand, in that case manna. The manna became available daily for as long as the people needed it. In this event, Jesus feeds the people with what is at hand: five barley loaves and two small fish. The barley loaves are significant. The poor did not have access to wheat for making their bread, they had to be content with barley, the cheapest grain available.

Did you notice the wording when Jesus blessed the bread and fish? “Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining.” At the last supper, Jesus took the bread, blessed it and gave it to his disciples. When we celebrate the Eucharist, we say, “Jesus took the bread, blessed it and, giving thanks, gave it to his disciples.” 

I have struggled with the meaning of Eucharist in today’s context. It is not just a ritual that we go through, it has a much deeper meaning. Jesus looks at his followers with compassion and invites them to sit down and enjoy a meal with him and with each other, and then he teaches them. Eucharist is about receiving, but it is also about giving. We can appreciate the benefits of living in community where we have never been without anything we truly needed and have been strengthened by our friendships with one another. Building community and relationships was what Jesus was all about, and he often did so in the context of a meal and not just with the elite, but with all kinds of people. Coming together, sharing food, working together, looking out for each other, building relationships Is what he asks of us.

I chose today’s prayer service because it has so many good statements about Eucharist, such as satisfying our hunger for God’s love, the invitation to choose life over death, to seek truth, to be strengthened for our daily struggles, to transform the quality of our presence, to see the ordinary as holy and to be patient with ourselves. In other words, to do as Jesus did: build community and relationships, to see ourselves in the context of a world community. We are the people of God sharing in the struggle together, whether it is pandemic, climate change, racial division or political divisions. We are all affected by it, and we can only change it by working together, which is what the Eucharist calls us to do.

Who should be allowed at the table? That is a serious question that has come from some of the United States bishops. Pat McCormick sent me a quotation that gave me chills because it went straight to the heart of the matter and is a lesson for all of us. It was taken from a letter written to the bishops by the Jesuit Provincial of the Oregon Province, Father John Whitney: 

“It is not your table (nor mine).  Bishops, priests, etc., are neither the hosts, nor the bouncers nor the ones who wrote the guest list.

“It is Jesus Christ,” John Whitney writes, “who invites the guests (‘all you who labor’); he is the host of those who come, he is the setter of the table; and he is the feast which is shared (‘Take this all of you … this is my body, this is my blood.’). We are the guests at the meal, and sometimes (by his calling) servers.”

Thank you, Pat, thank you, John Whitney, for this wonderful reminder.