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July
27, 2003 - 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
A.
God Provides Food
B. The Meager Gifts of a Little Boy
C. He Took Bread and Gave Thanks
Readings:
2 K 4:42-44;
Ps 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18; Eph 4:1-6;
Jn 6:1-15
Commentaries
/ Gospel Reflections from:
Sunday's
Into Silence • Diario
Biblico • Daily Gospel • A
Certain Jesus
Note. As Mark's
gospel is much shorter than the other synoptics, it can hardly fill
year B with enough significant passages. Hence, John's chapter 6, on
the multiplication and the eucharistic discourse, has been inserted.
Five Sundays, then 17-21 will speak of the rich and important topic
of the eucharist. The celebrant-homilist should plan ahead and avoid
the pitfall of trying to touch all the important aspects of the eucharist
in one celebration.
Greeting
(see Second Reading)
We
are gathered here together
by the Holy Spirit as one body,
united in one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
and one God, the Father of all.
May the Lord Jesus, who has called us together,
be always with you. R/ And also with you.
Introduction
by the Celebrant
A.
God Provides Food
The
traditional sign in the scriptures that God loves us and cares for us
is that he provides food for his people, usually bread, the staple food
in much of the world. Can we believe this when so many go hungry? Let
us first ask ourselves whether food is lacking or the distribution and
sharing are bad. The bread of the Bible stands not only for food for
the body but also for God's word, love, concern and presence. The most
profound of these signs of God's care is the eucharist in which Jesus
keeps giving himself as our food and drink for the road of life. Let
us give thanks to the Father with Jesus this great gift.
B.
The Meager Gifts of A Little Boy
Who
are we in the eyes of God? What can God do with us? After all, we are
no more than little people in a vast world. Today's liturgy shows us
that God can do very much through us and with the little we have to
give. When we give to him our time, our life, our talents and the little
we can do, he turns them into blessings for many. He can do great things
with us, but we have to put them at his disposal. The gospel shows us
what Jesus could do to satisfy the needs of a large crowd with the meager
gifts of a little boy. We ask the Lord to make us generous with the
little we have.
C.
He Took Bread and Gave Thanks
Whenever
Christians come to the eucharist they hear what Jesus did for people.
He took bread, gave thanks, and gave the bread to those present, saying,
"Take this, all of you, and eat it. This is I myself giving myself
to you." We hear in today's gospel that one day Jesus gave food
to a hungry crowd. He is the one who can appease the hungers of all
people of our earth. He wants us to share him with all and, like our
Lord, to share ourselves too with one another. Ask him in this eucharist
to teach us how.
Penitential
Act
Are
we hungry for God's word and care
or have we been cold to his love through sin?
Let us examine ourselves before the Lord.
(PAUSE)
Lord Jesus, you took pity on the crowd
and gave them to eat:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Jesus
Christ, you take pity on us
and nourish us with your body and blood:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord
Jesus, you want us to take pity
on people hungry for food and love:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Take
pity on us, merciful God,
and still our hunger for forgiveness.
Nourish us with the body of Jesus
and lead us to the feast meal of everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Opening
Prayer
Let
us pray that our heavenly Father
may give us all we need in Christ
(PAUSE)
God our Father,
you give your children everywhere
all the good gifts for a fully human life.
Let
your Son give us the bread
of his word that nourishes our faith,
of his peace that brings us rest,
of his consolation that gives us hope and joy,
and the nourishing bread that sustains us
on the way to you and to people.
Make us share this bread with all
as a token of the feast meal
which you have prepared for us in heaven.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First
Reading Introduction: Bread for the Poor
In a time of famine the prophet
Elisha orders bread destined for a religious offering to be given to the
hungry poor. As there is not enough, God sees to it that there is more
than needed to satisfy all.
First
Reading: 2 Kgs 4:42-44
A man
came from Baal-shalishad bringing bread and wheat to the man of God.
These were from the first part of the harvest, twenty loaves of barley
and wheat. Elisha told him, "Give the loaves to these men that
they may eat."
His
servant said to him, "How am I to divide these loaves among one
hundred men?" Elisha insisted, "Give them to the men that
they may eat, for Yahweh says: They shall eat and have some left over."
So the man set it before them; and they ate and had some left, as Yahweh
had said.
Responsorial
Psalm: Ps
145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18
R
(cf. 16) The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
Let
all your works give you thanks, O Lord,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might.
R The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The
eyes of all look hopefully to you,
and you give them their food in due season;
you open your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
R The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The
Lord is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The Lord is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.
R The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
Second
Reading Introduction: One
People, for God Is One
The apostle Paul exhorts the
Christian community to be one. Our unity bears witness to the Trinity,
which is the source and model of all unity.
Second
Reading: Eph 4:1-6
I,
the prisoner of Christ, invite you to live the vocation you have received.
Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love.
Make
every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of
peace. Let there be one body and one spirit, for God, in calling you,
gave the same Spirit to all. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God,
the Father of all, who is above all and works through all and is in
all.
Gospel
Introduction: Bread for the Hungry
Jesus
reveals himself in the multiplication as the giver of bread to the hungry.
He will use this sign later to reveal himself as the bread of life in
the eucharist.
Gospel
Reading: Jn 6:1-15
 Jesus
went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, near Tiberias, and large
crowds followed him because of the miraculous signs they saw when he
healed the sick. So he went up into the hills and sat down there with
his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.
Then
lifting up his eyes, Jesus saw the crowds that were coming to him and
said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread so that these people may
eat?" He said this to test Philip, for he himself knew what he was
going to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred silver coins would
not buy enough bread for each of them to have a piece."
Then
one of Jesus' disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said, "There
is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good
are these for so many?"
Jesus
said, "Make the people sit down." There was plenty of grass
there so the people, about five thousand men, sat down to rest. Jesus
then took the loaves, gave thanks and distributed them to those who
were seated. He did the same with the fish and gave them as much as
they wanted. And when they had eaten enough, he told his disciples,
"Gather up the pieces left over, that nothing may be lost."
So
they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with bread, that is
with pieces of the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.
When the people saw this sign that Jesus had just given, they said,
"This is really the Prophet, he who is to come into the world."
Jesus realized that they would come and take him by force to make him
king; so he fled to the hills by himself.
Commentary
"Five
loaves and two fish, what is that among so many?" Like the disciples
in today's gospel reading, we find sometimes ourselves in situations
wherein our confidence and trust fail us. "I can't do it,"
we say. We're defeated even before we begin to fight. Jesus' action
of feeding the multitude in today's reading is both a gentle reminder
to his disciples of the absolute importance of faith, as well as an
encouragement to all of us his followers who sometimes find ourselves
stretched and challenged by circumstances way beyond what we think
we are capable of facing. The storms of life are sometimes so powerful
that we find ourselves fearful and terrified, unable to muster the
strength and the courage to fight and succeed. When the multitude
was fed from those meager loaves and fish, Jesus was sending out a
most powerful message to his followers. And it was that there is nothing
to fear-not even the fact that our capabilities, talents, and capital
are sometimes seemingly so inadequate to the difficulties that come
our way. For there is power in faith and trust! There is success and
fulfillment awaiting our every action if only we remember that however
small our own 'portion's might be, when handed over to Christ, they
can become as bountiful and as rich as the abundant bread and fish
that fed the thousands of people who were there to listen to Jesus.
Trust is an absolute necessity in life, trust in God, trust in ourselves.
With it we can move mountains, without it, we can do nothing. There
is much truth to that oft-heard line: "We do our best, and leave
to God the rest."
Read
also: • Gospel
Reflections by Fr. Gerry Pierse, C.Ss.R.
•
Biblical
Commentaries fro Diario Biblico
General
Intercessions (inspired by René Mouret)
Let
us pray to God, from whom all good things come, that all may have in
abundance what they need to live as his sons and daughters, and let
us say: R/ Lord, grant us all that is good.
- For
the Church, that those who lead and preside may serve and unite all
in Christ; that they may constantly remind the people of God of the
true values of the gospel, let us pray: R/ Lord, grant us all that
is good.
- For
both the leaders and the faithful in the Church, that they may have
the courage to stand up for human rights, for a just sharing in the
earth's goods, for justice and for responsible freedom everywhere, let
us pray: R/ Lord, grant us all that is good.
- For
agencies of international aid, for the United Nations and govern- ments,
that they may use all human potentials and all the resources of science
and nature to feed the hungry and to develop the earth, let us pray:
R/ Lord, grant us all that is good.
- For
all Christian communities, that we may not abandon anyone in need; that
we may share joys and sorrows and all that is true, beautiful and good,
and that we may serve one another, let us pray: R/ Lord, grant us
all that is good.
- For
this community gathered here to break the Lord's bread, that the Spirit
of the Lord may make us the sign of the Lord's generosity and love,
let us pray: R/ Lord, grant us all that is good.
Indeed,
Lord our God, make us open and receptive to all your gifts and available
to all needs and all people, through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Prayer
over the Gifts
Father,
here is a little bread
and here are we with our empty lives.
Multiply our poor offering
and substitute for it the rich bread
and the tasty wine of Jesus.
Let him become our daily bread,
that from him we may learn
to share our food and ourselves
with all who cry out their need to us.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction
to the Eucharistic Prayer
In
this eucharist, Jesus will say again: "This is my body given up
for you. This is I myself giving myself to you." Let us thank the
Father for this great gift of Jesus to us.
Invitation
to the Lord's Prayer
United
in one faith and one baptism,
let us pray through the Holy Spirit
to God, the Father of all,
in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: R/ Our Father...
Deliver
Us
Deliver
us, Lord, from every evil
and help us in our day
to bring food to a hungry world.
In your mercy keep us free
from greed and self-sufficiency
that close our hearts to your gifts
and to one another.
Give us bread that does not perish,
as we go forward in joyful hope
toward the coming in glory
of our Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
At
the Breaking of Bread
Jesus
broke his life for us.
He now breaks the bread of himself
to satisfy our deepest hungers.
May we also learn from him
to share our food with one another,
for it tastes better when it is shared.
Invitation
to Communion
This
is Jesus our Lord
who multiplied bread for the hungry
and who gives himself to us, saying:
This is my body for the life of the world.
Happy are we to be invited
to eat this Bread of life. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Prayer
after Communion
We
give you thanks, generous Father,
for giving us Jesus, your Son,
as our food on the road
to you and to one another.
Give us the will and the creativity
to bring to a hungry world food
and a fair share in the riches of the earth.
Help us also to break the bread
of dignity and hope for all.
And be yourself the highest fulfillment
of all our aspirations,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
We
have broken bread with the Lord.
This commits us to call on all human resources
to share with those in need
food, justice, culture and freedom.
He also invites us to break for all
the higher bread of the gospel,
which satisfies the deepest hungers
of every human heart.
May God strengthen and bless you for this task:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go,
and share God's love and gifts
with one another. R/ Thanks be to God.
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