Homily for Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B, 25th July, 2021

 Homily for Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time  Year B, 25th July, 2021.

Reading: 2Kings 4:42-44; Ps. 145; Eph.4:1-6; John 6:1-15

Rev.  Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

THEY WILL EAT AND HAVE SOME LEFT OVER SAYS THE LORD

Humanity are constantly in need of one thing or the other, we are never tired of searching for things that will satisfy our desire for physical and spiritual well being. This is the situation and condition of the people in our Gospel passage today. For when they heard about Jesus, they went after him on foot. So as Jesus stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them and healed their sickness and also fed them in a miraculous way.

Here, Jesus fulfills his role as the expected messiah who is to liberate his people from all kinds of diseases. The healing touch of Jesus reveals to all those who are in need that God is faithful to his promises. This healing and wholeness are offered as a sign of the presence of God’s kingdom among his people. But Jesus did not just heal the sick, he also fed the crowd in fulfillment of the word of God in our first reading today, when prophet Elisha said: thus says the Lord, “They will eat and have some left over.”’ He served them; they ate and had some left over, as the Lord had said.

More so, this feeding of the crowd refers back to the journey of the people of God in the desert from Mount Sinai to the promised land which in a special way signifies the event of our Eucharistic celebrate. The Eucharist has the same characteristics of this miracle: the community gathered together, the transformation of humble elements into a glorified body of Christ to satisfy our spiritual hunger which is an abundant gift of God to humanity. In fact, because of the link to the Eucharist, this is the only miracle that is reported by all the four Gospels. 

However, we can interpret this miracle of feeding the crowd in two ways. First, we can simply interpret it as a miraculous event, pointing to the divine origin and mission of Jesus. Secondly, we can interpret the miracle as the fruit of sharing with one another, for it is possible that once the disciples began to share the little food they had with those around, others also who had actually brought some food with them started sharing what they have and indeed grace multiplied what they have to the point of having left over.

So, as Jesus heals and feeds the physical aspect of humanity, he also knows that we need the food of the Eucharist to sustain us spiritually for our journey to heaven which is our promised land. Here, Jesus did not bring the loaves and fish out of nowhere. Rather, he took what was offered to him and multiplied them greatly. This bread is the gift of the Eucharist which we receive back from Jesus whose heart is always moved with pity and compassion towards us. 

Dear friends, God loves us so much, that he is willing and ready to satisfy our unquenchable hunger for physical and spiritual things. How I wish humanity can give up greed, selfishness, hatred, embezzlement of our common resources in order to embrace true love for one another and learn to share our resources with one another for the purpose for which they are meant for, believe me, the world will witness another miracle of multiplication of resources that will be enough for everyone with left over for the future generations. 

But we have failed to embrace this love, we have failed to share this love with one another or give up our ugly attitudes. Little wonder St. Paul in our second reading implore us to lead a life worthy of our vocation, bearing with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience. He encouraged us to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds us together. Therefore, let us embrace Jesus and the love he is offering us. Let us like Jesus have compassion and love for everyone, for that is the very nature of God which we share.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, we are really hungry, in need of your love and satisfaction both physically and spiritually, feed us once again with your heavenly grace and multiple the little bread and fish we share with others and provide for us the basic needs of life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Do have a blessed Sunday.