Gospel Reflection for July 29, 2018, 17th Sunday Ordinary Time
Sunday Readings: 2 Kings 4.42-44; Ephesians 4.1-6; John 6.1-15
Jesus saw a large crowd coming toward him and said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat? He said this to test him, for he knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here with five barley loaves and three fish. But what are they among so many?” – John 6.5-9
In John’s gospel healing and feeding are called signs rather than miracles. A sign points to more than is visible. For the next several Sundays the Church reads from John gospel, chapter 6, which points to Jesus as the living bread and invites us to reflect on our eucharistic faith.
John’s theology riffs off the story of Jesus feeding a multitude with five barley loaves and two fish and having 12 baskets full of leftovers for those of us down the centuries and around the world who didn’t make the original feeding. To begin, Jesus’ disciples hit the wall about providing for such a crowd. The real crisis is about more than food. The real crisis lies in the disciples’ own resources and lack of imagination. Philip prices out the cost. Today he might be saying, “There aren’t enough priests, so we can no longer have the bread of life for everyone who is hungry.” Andrew finds resources but they’re meager. He reports a count, too. The boy who isn’t in a box gives what he has and it proves enough. Quite amazing.
To what does the sign point? What resources do the people of God have to nourish us today?
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