17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 28, 2024
The First Reading
Elisha was a disciple of Elijah and continued his prophetic mission. Both of these well known prophets performed several deeds that paralleled those of Moses. For example, Elijah, like Moses, went up Mt. Sinai and encountered the Lord, God. Elisha, like Moses, turned water into blood and parted the Jordan River, just as Moses parted the Red Sea. The reason for these parallels is due to the fact that the mission of Elijah and Elisha involved reminding the people and the kings of both Israel and Judah of their need to remain faithful to the Sinai Covenant. Their ability to do things similar to Moses served as a reminder for the people and legitimized their prophetic ministry. This week’s first reading tells the story of the prophet Elisha feeding 100 men with a few barley loaves and was selected explicitly because of its connection to the Gospel. Jesus wasn’t the first to perform such a miracle, but Jesus’ sign is far more significant for reasons we shall soon see.
The use of barley loaves is also significant, as it was a hardy grain that could withstand the worst of conditions. It was referred to as the grain for the poor because barley was a staple in the diet of the poor. Its use in this passage signifies that God would take care of the poor, his anawim. In his love for them, he would see that their needs were taken care of. In his love for us, God does the same. He remains faithful to his covenant, to his relationship with us, even though we are a disobedient and rebellious lot. God’s love far outweighs his anger, and his mercy outweighs his justice for those who love him.
The Second Reading
Our second reading this week continues to delve into Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. This letter was one of the letters written while Paul was imprisoned. While its Pauline authorship is disputed, the theme certainly sits well with Paul's theology. The first part of the letter, which we have already examined, focuses on unity within the community. The emphasis is on our oneness, which is grounded and centered in Christ. Now, Paul shifts focus to provide the “how" as he reveals how we effectively live out this reality.
Our relationship with Jesus is the result of our responding to Christ’s call. To live in unity with one another requires us to live in humility and gentleness, with patience and most importantly bearing one another through love. The latter of which requires a profoundly new way of looking at one another. It’s one thing to put up with someone. It’s something else entirely to bear that same someone through love. What does that mean exactly? It means that we allow agape love, that biblical love rooted in choice and the desire to will the good of another, to be the litmus test by which we judge all of our actions. In other words, we bear someone's faults, flaws, imperfections, and even sin against us with love and mercy. Love leads to conversion. Force does not. Force leads to resentment and resistance. But love? It is love that changed the world when our Heavenly Father sacrificed his only begotten Son for love of us. It is love that transforms us as Jesus shares his divine life with us in Holy Eucharist. If you're married, you're not likely to consider yourself the same person when you were first married. The love of your spouse has inspired you to be a better person for love of your spouse. This is what Paul is talking about.
Just as love formed the premise for each covenant enacted by God, and all of God’s laws, love is to be the guiding principle for how we live and engage one another in community. We are one body, one spirit, sharing in one hope, one faith, under one Lord, united in our love for God and each other. So let love paint the portrait of your life!
Gospel Reading
Over the next few weeks we take a brief diversion from Mark’s Gospel to explore the feeding of the multitude in John's Gospel and its ramifications. As was pointed out in our discussion of Elisha, Jesus too mirrors the actions of Moses by going up on the mountain. Great things take place up on mountains, including profound encounters with God. The sign that was about to be performed represents the greatest possible encounter we can have with our Lord in our human state, that is the Eucharist, and by going up on a mountain John is relating to the disciples of Jesus (i.e., you and I) that what is taking place is the establishment of a new covenant; the new and eternal covenant of the Eucharist!
John first makes note of the fact that the most important Jewish feast day was near – the Passover. The significance of his noting this cannot be underscored enough. We must remember that there is no institution narrative of the Eucharist in John’s Gospel. The words, “This is my body…this is my blood” are nowhere to be found. Instead, John uses this story or sign to express his theology of the Eucharist. Hence, he ties this sign of Jesus to the Passover, for Jesus is the new Passover. Keep in mind also that when we speak of sign in John's Gospel we are referring to a sign that Jesus is God. Sign doesn't mean symbol, and that's an important distinction as we'll come to see in the weeks ahead.
Adding to the Eucharistic theme are the five barley loaves and two fish. Add them together and you get the number seven, which is the numerological sign for completeness. Another number with significance that occurs in the Gospel is twelve, and we see how there are twelve baskets in which fragments of the food left over are gathered. The twelve baskets represent the twelve tribes of Israel. These twelve tribes were scattered throughout the known world as a result of the fall of the northern and southern kingdoms and the exiles that followed. They were fragmented. Jesus' actions that day were symbolic of his gathering together the fragments of the twelve tribes. He was unifiying them once again. How? John would say it was through the Eucharist, which would become the new Passover for the disciples. St. Paul speaks often of how we are one Body, united in Christ. The sacrament of the Eucharist literally brings us together as one Body, united in Christ.
The miracle that Jesus performs this day far outshined that of Elisha. The people knew the latter event quite well, but this event made Elisha's look like child's play. The people who were gathered that day quickly realized that Jesus was the Prophet, a term used in reference to the Messiah. They want to carry him off and make him king. Once again the people have misunderstood the nature of the Messiah. They were anticipating and even hoping for a political Messiah, but Jesus came not to redeem them from the clutches of Roman rule and occupation, but from the clutches of sin and death. Whereas Moses liberated the people from the bonds of slavery, Jesus would liberate us from the bonds of sin and death.
Over the next few weeks John will reveal the implications of this wonderous sign by having Jesus himself explain the event to those around him. We will quikly see the people's initial reaction of wonder and awe turn into confusion and then condemnation. If only they opened themselves up to the words of Christ, then perhaps they could have seen the truth, and their lives would have been radically transformed, because that is the true power of the Eucharist, as the source and summit of the Christian life.
Copyright 2024 St. Albert the Great Church, Huntingdon Valley, PA.
All rights reserved.
The content of this page is the intellectual property of St. Albert the Great Church and is provided for the personal and private use of its parishioners and those visiting our website. No portion of this text may be reprinted without permission of the copyright owner. To obtain reprint permission, please submit your request to Dennis M. Mueller.