Siebzehnter Sonntag der gewöhnlichen Zeit – Jahr B

# Die Brotvermehrung ist die Bezeichnung für zwei Wunder, die Jesus von Nazareth laut den Texten der Evangelien vollbracht hat: Matthäus, Kapitel 14, Verse 14 bis 21, dann wieder 15, 32-38; Markus 6, 34-44, dann wieder Markus 8, 1-9; Lukas 9, 12-17; Johannes 6, 5-14. Die erste Brotvermehrung fand nach dem Tod von Johannes dem Täufer auf Geheiß von Herodes Antipas statt, um den Wünschen seiner Tochter Salome und der Heilung der Kranken zu entsprechen.

Später fand eine zweite Brotvermehrung statt, an der eine andere Anzahl von Menschen beteiligt war. Matthäus und Markus sind die einzigen Evangelisten, die davon berichten. Einige Ausleger meinten, es handele sich um dasselbe Ereignis, das zweimal erzählt wurde. Die beiden Wunder fanden jedoch nicht am selben Ort statt: In einem Fall waren es fünftausend Menschen, im anderen viertausend. Mit dieser Geste ermutigte er die Menschen, vor dem Essen zu beten, und wollte zeigen, wie wichtig das Teilen ist. Moderne Theologen würden sagen, dass die Vermehrung der Brote ein Symbol für das von Christus gegebene Wort ist, ein Wort, das die Menschen seit Jahrhunderten ernährt hat.

Für den heiligen Ephrem hat Jesus bei diesem Wunder großzügig gegeben, ohne auf die Kosten zu achten. Er gab so viel, dass zwölf Körbe übrig blieben. Der Heilige verglich Jesus auch mit Moses, der das aus der Sklaverei befreite Volk mit Manna speiste, das vom Himmel fiel. Für Benedikt XVI. ist diese messianische Geste im Angelus vom 31. Juli 2011 ein Symbol des brüderlichen Teilens, aber auch ein Symbol des Weges, den die Apostel gehen sollten, nämlich die Frohe Botschaft weiterzugeben. Im Angelus vom 29. Juli 2012 betonte Benedikt XVI., dass diese Vermehrung der Beginn der Eucharistie ist, die bis heute andauert.

Einigen theologischen Interpretationen zufolge wird damit das letzte Abendmahl, das letzte Mahl Jesu mit seinen Jüngern, vorweggenommen und der Ritus der Eucharistie begründet, bei dem das Brot die Inkarnation des Leibes Jesu ist, der am Kreuz geopfert wurde, um die Menschheit zu retten. Für die Historiker bleiben die Ereignisse, die die Evangelisten mit diesen beiden Berichten heraufbeschwören, rätselhaft, auch wenn einige Hypothesen aufgestellt wurden. Aus dem Evangelium von Jesus Christus nach Johanne

Aus dem Evangelium von Jesus Christus nach Johannes

Zu jener Zeit kam Jesus auf der anderen Seite des Sees von Galiläa, des Sees von Tiberias, vorbei. Eine große Menschenmenge folgte ihm; denn sie hatten die Zeichen gesehen, die er an den Kranken tat. Jesus stieg auf den Berg und setzte sich dort mit seinen Jüngern nieder. Dort war der See von Tiberias. Jesus blickte auf und sah, dass eine große Menschenmenge zu ihm kam. Er sagte zu Philippu sagte : « Wo können wir Brot kaufen, damit sie zu essen haben?» Er sagte dies, um ihn zu prüfen, denn er wusste genau, was er tun würde. Philippus antwortete: „Zweihundert Tageslöhne würden nicht ausreichen, um allen etwas Brot zu geben. Einer seiner Jünger, Andreas, der Bruder von Simon Petrus, sagte zu ihm: ‘Es gibt einen Jungen, der hat fünf Gerstenbrote und zwei Fische, aber was ist das für so viele Menschen ?

Jesus sagte : «Lasst die Leute sich setzen.’ Es war viel Gras da.» So setzten sie sich, etwa fünftausend Menschen. Dann nahm Jesus die Brote und verteilte sie nach dem Dank an die Gäste; er gab ihnen auch so viel Fisch, wie sie wollten. Als sie sich satt gegessen hatten, sagte er zu seinen Jüngern: ‘Sammelt die Reste auf, damit nichts verloren geht. Sie sammelten und füllten zwölf Körbe mit den Stücken der fünf Gerstenbrote, die für diejenigen übrig geblieben waren, die diese Speise zu sich nahmen.

Als das Volk das Zeichen sah, das Jesus tat, sagten sie : „Das ist wirklich der prophezeite Prophet, der in die Welt kommen wird. Aber Jesus wusste, dass sie ihn mitnehmen würden, um ihn zu ihrem König zu machen; deshalb zog er sich allein in die Berge zurück (Joh 6, 1-15).

Jesus speist die Menge

Als Jesus auf die andere Seite des Sees von Galiläa gelangt war, stieg er auf den Berg und setzte sich mit seinen Jüngern nieder. Alle, die ihn bewunderten, folgten ihm und erwarteten Zeichen und Heilungen. Als Jesus die große Menschenmenge sah, die zu ihm gekommen war, empfand er großes Mitgefühl und Mitleid mit ihnen, die alles von ihm erwarteten. Jesus sah die Bedürfnisse der Menschen. Das Wunder, das er tat, war eine Geste der Liebe. Jesus sagte zu Philippus: Wo können wir Brot kaufen, damit sie zu essen haben? Sie sammelten sie ein und füllten zwölf Körbe mit den Stücken der fünf Gerstenbrote, die für die übrig geblieben waren, die diese Nahrung zu sich nahmen.

Als die Leute das Zeichen sahen, das Jesus tat, sagten sie: „Das ist wirklich der prophezeite Prophet, der in die Welt kommen wird. Aber Jesus wusste, dass sie ihn mitnehmen würden, um ihn zu ihrem König zu machen; deshalb zog er sich allein in die Berge zurück (Joh 6, 1-15).

Jesus speist die Menge

Nachdem Jesus auf die andere Seite des Sees von Galiläa gelangt war, stieg er auf den Berg und setzte sich mit seinen Jüngern nieder. Alle, die ihn bewunderten, folgten ihm und erwarteten Zeichen und Heilungen. Als Jesus die große Menschenmenge sah, die zu ihm gekommen war, empfand er großes Mitgefühl und Mitleid mit ihnen, die alles von ihm erwarteten. Jesus sah die Bedürfnisse der Menschen. Das Wunder, das er tat, war eine Geste der Liebe. Jesus sagte zu Philippus:
Wo können wir Brot kaufen, damit sie zu essen haben? Diese Frage ist auch heute noch aktuell. Jesus bittet uns, auf das natürlichste Bedürfnis der Menschen zu schauen: etwas zu essen zu haben! Er sagt uns: einfach zu essen! Jesus bringt uns zurück zu unserem täglichen Leben, zu unserem täglichen Brot. Zur Liebe. Dort, in den gewöhnlichen Diensten unserer Tage, müssen wir lieben. Dort, in der Menge, war ein Junge mit fünf Gerstenbroten und zwei Fischen. Er hatte Vorräte, während die anderen nichts zu essen hatten. Jesus war von dem Elend der Menschenmenge beeindruckt und vollbrachte ein Wunder

Vor dem Heiligen Vinzenz von Paul, Abbé Pierre, Coluche, eröffnete er zum ersten Mal die Restos du Coeur. Er servierte der Menge eine kostenlose Mahlzeit: Brot und Fisch, und er sparte nicht an der Menge: die Reste füllten zwölf Körbe ! Bevor wir den Geist und das Herz nähren, weiß Jesus, dass wir den Körper nähren müssen. Wir dürfen dieses Grundbedürfnis nie vergessen: Nahrung geben! Die Priorität, die Papst Johannes Paul II. den Armen einräumt, ist eine zutiefst evangelische Haltung : Ich gebe euch dieses Brot, weil ich euch liebe“

In der Brotvermehrung will Jesus uns die Verkündigung der Eucharistie entdecken lassen. In dieser Geschichte sind wir also nahe am Passahfest, am Datum des letzten Abendmahls und des Opfers am Kreuz: Jesus nimmt das Brot und dankt (das ist das Wort Eucharistie) und teilt es wie am Abend des Gründonnerstags aus. Der Auftrag an Philippus, das Brot zu nehmen, um die Menge zu speisen, und die Anwesenheit der Apostel, die zwölf Körbe mit den übrig gebliebenen Stücken füllen, ist eine Anspielung darauf, dass die Kirche eingeladen ist, das Brot des Lebens (die Eucharistie) an die Menschen zu verteilen.

Wenn du deine Hand öffnest, füllst und sättigst du alle, die leben“. (In jeder Eucharistiefeier sind wir zu dieser gleichen Geste des Gebens eingeladen, damit Gott sich vermehren kann. Ist uns bewusst, dass wir Gäste am Tisch des Herrn sind ? Diese Geschichte des Evangeliums ist eine Einladung zur Großzügigkeit und zum Teilen. Aber sie sagt uns auch, dass nichts unbedeutend ist und dass wir uns niemals von der Schwäche unserer Mittel entmutigen lassen dürfen. Bringen wir unsere kleinen Fähigkeiten dem Herrn dar, der sie vervielfachen wird.

Diakon Michel Houyoux

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Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

# The multiplication of the loaves is the name given to two miracles performed by Jesus of Nazareth according to the texts of the Gospels: Matthew, chapter 14, verses 14 to 21, then again 15, 32-38; Mark 6, 34-44, then again Mark 8, 1-9; Luke 9, 12-17; John 6, 5-14. The first multiplication of the loaves took place after the death of John the Baptist at the behest of Herod Antipas, in response to the wishes of his daughter Salome and the healing of the sick.

A second multiplication of the loaves took place later, involving a different number of people. Matthew and Mark are the only evangelists to recount it. Some exegetes thought it was the same event told twice. However, the two miracles did not take place in the same place: in one case there were five thousand people, in the other four thousand. The number of extra baskets of bread was also different. Later Jesus referred to the two miracles, clearly distinguishing them (Matthew 16: 9-11). For the Doctor of the Church John Chrysostom, Jesus, in this miracle, truly posed himself as the creator of heaven and earth.

With this gesture, he encouraged people to pray before eating and wanted to show the importance of sharing. Modern theologians would say that the multiplication of the loaves is a symbol of the Word given by Christ, a word that has nourished people for centuries. For Saint Ephrem, during this miracle Jesus gave generously without counting the cost. He gave so much that twelve baskets remained. The saint also compared Jesus to Moses, who fed the people freed from slavery with manna that fell from heaven.

For Benedict XVI, in the Angelus of 31 July 2011, this messianic gesture is a symbol of fraternal sharing, but also a symbol of the path to be followed by the apostles, namely to transmit the Good News. In the Angelus of 29 July 2012, Benedict XVI emphasised that this multiplication is the beginning of the Eucharist, which continues to this day. According to some theological interpretations, it prefigures the Last Supper, Jesus‘ last meal with his disciples, establishing the rite of the Eucharist in which the bread would be the incarnation of Jesus’ body, given as a sacrifice on the cross to save humanity. For historians, the events evoked by the evangelists with these two reports remain enigmatic, although some hypotheses have been put forward.

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to John

At that time, Jesus passed by on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd followed him, because they had seen the signs he performed on the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat there with his disciples. There was the Lake of Tiberias. Jesus looked up and saw that a great crowd was coming to him. He said to Philip : ‘Where can we buy bread for them to eat?’ He said this to test him, because he knew exactly what he would do. Philip replied: ‘Two hundred days’ wages would not be enough to give everyone some bread. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him : ‘There is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what is that for so many people ?’

Jesus said : ‘Let the people sit down.’ There was a lot of grass there. So they sat down, about five thousand people. Then Jesus took the loaves and, after giving thanks, distributed them among the diners ; he also gave them all the fish they wanted. When they had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples : ‘Gather up the leftovers, that nothing may be lost. ‘ They collected and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves that were left over for those who took this food.

When the people saw the sign performed by Jesus, they said: ‘This is truly the prophet foretold, the one who is coming into the world’. But Jesus knew that they would take him away to make him their king; so he withdrew back to the mountains alone (Jn 6, 1-15). 

Jesus feeds the crowd

When Jesus had crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, he went up the mountain and sat down with his disciples. All his admirers followed him, eager for signs and healings. Seeing the large crowd that had come to him, Jesus felt immense compassion and pity for them, who expected everything from him.  Jesus saw the needs of the people. The miracle he performed was a gesture of love. Jesus said to Philip: ‘Where can we buy bread for them to eat?’. They gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves that were left over for those who took this food. When the people saw the sign performed by Jesus, they said : ‘This is truly the prophet foretold, the one who is coming into the world’. But Jesus knew that they would take him away to make him their king; so he withdrew back to the mountains alone (Jn 6, 1-15).

Jesus feeds the crowd

Then Jesus had crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, he went up the mountain and sat down with his disciples. All his admirers followed him, eager for signs and healings. Seeing the large crowd that had come to him, Jesus felt immense compassion and pity for them, who expected everything from him. Jesus saw the needs of the people. The miracle he performed was a gesture of love. Jesus said to Philip: ’

Where can we buy bread for them to eat? This question is still relevant today. Jesus asks us to look at the most natural needs of the people: to have something to eat! He tells us: simply to eat! Jesus takes us back to our daily life, to our daily bread. To love… It is there, in the ordinary services of our days, that we must love. There, in the crowd, was a boy with five barley loaves and two fish. He had provisions, while the others had nothing to eat. Jesus was struck by the misery of the crowd and performed a miracle.

In front of St Vincent de Paul, Abbé Pierre, Coluche, he launched the Restos du Coeur for the first time. He served the crowd a free meal : bread and fish, and he did not skimp on quantity : the leftovers filled twelve baskets ! Before nourishing the mind and heart, Jesus knows that we must nourish the body. We must never forget this primordial need : give food ! The priority given to the poor by Pope John Paul II is a profoundly evangelical attitude : ‘I give you this bread because I love you’.

In the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus wants us to discover the proclamation of the Eucharist. Thus, in this story, we were close to the feast of the Passover, to the date of the Last Supper and the sacrifice of the cross: Jesus took the bread and gave thanks (this is the word Eucharist) and distributed it as on the evening of Holy Thursday. The order given to Philip to take the bread to feed the crowd, and the presence of the apostles filling twelve baskets with the remaining pieces, is an allusion to the Church being invited to distribute the Bread of Life (the Eucharist) to the people.

‘When you open your hand, you fill and satiate everyone who lives’. (In every Eucharistic celebration we are invited to this same gesture of giving that God can multiply. Do we realise that we are guests at the table of the Lord ? This Gospel story is an invitation to generosity and sharing. But it also tells us that nothing is insignificant and that we must never be discouraged by the weakness of our means. Let us offer our small capacities to the Lord, who will multiply them.

Deacon Michel Houyoux

Links to other Christian sites

frcznicenjhoku : click here to read the paper → Texts – frcanicenjoku | A fine WordPress.com site

Combonoi.org : click here to read the paper → XVII Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B

Video Father Valan Arockiaswamy : click here → https://youtu.be/Z5dglEIv89M

Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

# The multiplication of the loaves is the name given to two miracles performed by Jesus of Nazareth according to the texts of the Gospels: Matthew, chapter 14, verses 14 to 21, then again 15, 32-38; Mark 6, 34-44, then again Mark 8, 1-9; Luke 9, 12-17; John 6, 5-14. The first multiplication of the loaves took place after the death of John the Baptist at the behest of Herod Antipas, in response to the wishes of his daughter Salome and the healing of the sick.

A second multiplication of the loaves took place later, involving a different number of people. Matthew and Mark are the only evangelists to recount it. Some exegetes thought it was the same event told twice. However, the two miracles did not take place in the same place: in one case there were five thousand people, in the other four thousand. The number of extra baskets of bread was also different. Later Jesus referred to the two miracles, clearly distinguishing them (Matthew 16: 9-11). For the Doctor of the Church John Chrysostom, Jesus, in this miracle, truly posed himself as the creator of heaven and earth.

With this gesture, he encouraged people to pray before eating and wanted to show the importance of sharing. Modern theologians would say that the multiplication of the loaves is a symbol of the Word given by Christ, a word that has nourished people for centuries. For Saint Ephrem, during this miracle Jesus gave generously without counting the cost. He gave so much that twelve baskets remained. The saint also compared Jesus to Moses, who fed the people freed from slavery with manna that fell from heaven.

For Benedict XVI, in the Angelus of 31 July 2011, this messianic gesture is a symbol of fraternal sharing, but also a symbol of the path to be followed by the apostles, namely to transmit the Good News. In the Angelus of 29 July 2012, Benedict XVI emphasised that this multiplication is the beginning of the Eucharist, which continues to this day.  According to some theological interpretations, it prefigures the Last Supper, Jesus‘ last meal with his disciples, establishing the rite of the Eucharist in which the bread would be the incarnation of Jesus’ body, given as a sacrifice on the cross to save humanity. For historians, the events evoked by the evangelists with these two reports remain enigmatic, although some hypotheses have been put forward.

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to John

At that time, Jesus passed by on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd followed him, because they had seen the signs he performed on the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat there with his disciples. There was the Lake of Tiberias. Jesus looked up and saw that a great crowd was coming to him. He said to Philip : ‘Where can we buy bread for them to eat?’ He said this to test him, because he knew exactly what he would do.

Philip replied  : ‘Two hundred days’ wages would not be enough to give everyone some bread.  One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him : ‘There is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what is that for so many people ? Jesus said : ‘Let the people sit down.’  There was a lot of grass there. So they sat down, about five thousand people. Then Jesus took the loaves and, after giving thanks, distributed them among the diners ; he also gave them all the fish they wanted.

When they had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples : ‘Gather up the leftovers, that nothing may be lost. ‘ They collected and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves that were left over for those who took this food. When the people saw the sign performed by Jesus, they said: ‘This is truly the prophet foretold, the one who is coming into the world’. But Jesus knew that they would take him away to make him their king; so he withdrew back to the mountains alone (Jn 6, 1-15).

Jesus feeds the crowd

When Jesus had crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, he went up the mountain and sat down with his disciples. All his admirers followed him, eager for signs and healings. Seeing the large crowd that had come to him, Jesus felt immense compassion and pity for them, who expected everything from him. Jesus saw the needs of the people. The miracle he performed was a gesture of love. Jesus said to Philip : ‘Where can we buy bread for them to eat ?’. They gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves that were left over for those who took this food.

When the people saw the sign performed by Jesus, they said : ‘This is truly the prophet foretold, the one who is coming into the world’. But Jesus knew that they would take him away to make him their king; so he withdrew back to the mountains alone (Jn 6, 1-15).

Jesus feeds the crowd

 Then Jesus had crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, he went up the mountain and sat down with his disciples. All his admirers followed him, eager for signs and healings. Seeing the large crowd that had come to him, Jesus felt immense compassion and pity for them, who expected everything from him. Jesus saw the needs of the people. The miracle he performed was a gesture of love. Jesus said to Philip: ’  Yhe can we buy bread for them to eat? This question is still relevant today.

Jesus asks us to look at the most natural needs of the people: to have something to eat ! He tells us: simply to eat! Jesus takes us back to our daily life, to our daily bread. To love… It is there, in the ordinary services of our days, that we must love. There, in the crowd, was a boy with five barley loaves and two fish. He had provisions, while the others had nothing to eat. Jesus was struck by the misery of the crowd and performed a miracle.

In front of St Vincent de Paul, Abbé Pierre, Coluche, he launched the Restos du Coeur for the first time. He served the crowd a free meal : bread and fish, and he did not skimp on quantity : the leftovers filled twelve baskets !   Before nourishing the mind and heart, Jesus knows that we must nourish the body. We must never forget this primordial need : give food ! The priority given to the poor by Pope John Paul II is a profoundly evangelical attitude : ‘I give you this bread because I love you’.

In the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus wants us to discover the proclamation of the Eucharist. Thus, in this story, we were close to the feast of the Passover, to the date of the Last Supper and the sacrifice of the cross: Jesus took the bread and gave thanks (this is the word Eucharist) and distributed it as on the evening of Holy Thursday.  The order given to Philip to take the bread to feed the crowd, and the presence of the apostles filling twelve baskets with the remaining pieces, is an allusion to the Church being invited to distribute the Bread of Life (the Eucharist) to the people.

‘When you open your hand, you fill and satiate everyone who lives’. (In every Eucharistic celebration we are invited to this same gesture of giving that God can multiply. Do we realise that we are guests at the table of the Lord ? This Gospel story is an invitation to generosity and sharing. But it also tells us that nothing is insignificant and that we must never be discouraged by the weakness of our means. Let us offer our small capacities to the Lord, who will multiply them.

Deacon Michel Houyoux

Links to other Christian sites

Qumran : click here to read the article → Texts – XVII Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B)

Paolo Scquizzato : click here to read the article →OMELIA XVII Sunday of Ordinary Time. Year B

Video Father Valan Arockiaswamy : click here → https://youtu.be/Z5dglEIv89

Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

# The multiplication of the loaves is the name given to two miracles performed by Jesus of Nazareth according to the texts of the Gospels: Matthew, chapter 14, verses 14 to 21, then again 15, 32-38; Mark 6, 34-44, then again Mark 8, 1-9; Luke 9, 12-17; John 6, 5-14. The first multiplication of the loaves took place after the death of John the Baptist at the behest of Herod Antipas, in response to the wishes of his daughter Salome and the healing of the sick.

A second multiplication of the loaves took place later, involving a different number of people. Matthew and Mark are the only evangelists to recount it. Some exegetes thought it was the same event told twice. However, the two miracles did not take place in the same place: in one case there were five thousand people, in the other four thousand. The number of extra baskets of bread was also different. Later Jesus referred to the two miracles, clearly distinguishing them (Matthew 16: 9-11). For the Doctor of the Church John Chrysostom, Jesus, in this miracle, truly posed himself as the creator of heaven and earth.

With this gesture, he encouraged people to pray before eating and wanted to show the importance of sharing. Modern theologians would say that the multiplication of the loaves is a symbol of the Word given by Christ, a word that has nourished people for centuries. For Saint Ephrem, during this miracle Jesus gave generously without counting the cost. He gave so much that twelve baskets remained. The saint also compared Jesus to Moses, who fed the people freed from slavery with manna that fell from heaven.

For Benedict XVI, in the Angelus of 31 July 2011, this messianic gesture is a symbol of fraternal sharing, but also a symbol of the path to be followed by the apostles, namely to transmit the Good News. In the Angelus of 29 July 2012, Benedict XVI emphasised that this multiplication is the beginning of the Eucharist, which continues to this day.

According to some theological interpretations, it prefigures the Last Supper, Jesus‘ last meal with his disciples, establishing the rite of the Eucharist in which the bread would be the incarnation of Jesus’ body, given as a sacrifice on the cross to save humanity. For historians, the events evoked by the evangelists with these two reports remain enigmatic, although some hypotheses have been put forward

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to John

 At that time, Jesus passed by on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd followed him, because they had seen the signs he performed on the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat there with his disciples. There was the Lake of Tiberias. Jesus looked up and saw that a great crowd was coming to him. He said to Philip : ‘Where can we buy bread for them to eat ?’

He said this to test him, because he knew exactly what he would do. Philip replied: ‘Two hundred days’ wages would not be enough to give everyone some bread. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him : ‘There is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what is that for so many people ? ’, Jesus said : ‘Let the people sit down.’ There was a lot of grass there. So they sat down, about five thousand people. Then Jesus took the loaves and, after giving thanks, distributed them among the diners; he also gave them all the fish they wanted. When they had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples: ‘Gather up the leftovers, that nothing may be lost.

They gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves that were left over for those who took this food. When the people saw the sign performed by Jesus, they said: ‘This is truly the prophet foretold, the one who is coming into the world’. But Jesus knew that they would take him away to make him their king; so he withdrew back to the mountains alone (Jn 6, 1-15).

Jesus feeds the crowd

When Jesus had crossed to the other side of Lake Tiberias, he went up the mountain and sat down with his disciples. All his admirers followed him, eager for signs and healings. Seeing the large crowd that had come to him, Jesus felt immense compassion and pity for them, who expected everything from him. Jesus saw the needs of the people. The miracle he performed was a gesture of love. Jesus said to Philip : ‘Where can we buy bread for them to eat ?’. They gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves that were left over for those who took this food.

When the people saw the sign performed by Jesus, they said : ‘This is truly the prophet foretold, the one who is coming into the world’. But Jesus knew that they would take him away to make him their king; so he withdrew back to the mountains alone (Jn 6, 1-15).

Jesus feeds the crowd

When Jesus had crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, he went up the mountain and sat down with his disciples. All his admirers followed him, eager for signs and healings. Seeing the large crowd that had come to him, Jesus felt immense compassion and pity for them, who expected everything from him. Jesus saw the needs of the people. The miracle he performed was a gesture of love. Jesus said to Philip:

Where can we buy bread for them to eat ? This question is still relevant today. Jesus asks us to look at the most natural needs of people: to have something to eat! He tells us: simply to eat! Jesus takes us back to our daily life, to our daily bread. To love… It is there, in the ordinary services of our days, that we must love. There, in the crowd, was a boy with five barley loaves and two fish. He had provisions, while the others had nothing to eat. Jesus was struck by the misery of the crowd and performed a miracle.

In front of St Vincent de Paul, Abbé Pierre, and Coluche, he launched the Restos du Coeur for the first time. He served the crowd a free meal: bread and fish, and he did not skimp on quantity: the leftovers filled twelve baskets ! Before nourishing the mind and heart, Jesus knows that we must nourish the body. We must never forget this primordial need: give food! The priority given to the poor by Pope John Paul II is a profoundly evangelical attitude : ‘I give you this bread because I love you’. 

In the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus wants us to discover the proclamation of the Eucharist. Thus, in this story, we were close to the feast of the Passover, the date of the Last Supper and the sacrifice of the cross: Jesus took the bread and gave thanks (this is the word Eucharist) and distributed it as on the evening of Holy Thursday. The order given to Philip to take the bread to feed the crowd, and the presence of the apostles filling twelve baskets with the remaining pieces, are an allusion to the Church being invited to distribute the Bread of Life (the Eucharist) to the people.

‘When you open your hand, fill and satiate everyone who lives’. (In every Eucharistic celebration we are invited to this same gesture of giving that God can multiply. Do we realise that we are guests at the table of the Lord? This Gospel story is an invitation to generosity and sharing. But it also tells us that nothing is insignificant and that we must never be discouraged by the weakness of our means. Let us offer our small capacities to the Lord, who will multiply them.

Deacon Michel Houyoux

Links to other Christian sites

 frcanicenjoku : click here to read the paper → Homily for the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B

Loyola Press : click here to read the paper → Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle B

 Video Good Soil : click here → https://youtu.be/pS32gCk9BV8