Gospel Reflection for July 29, 2012, 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

A crowd that numbers 5,000 men is following Jesus and his disciples and needs to be fed.  They have only five barley loaves and two fish.

Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.  When they had their fill, Jesus told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.”
So they gathered them up.  From the fragments of the five barley loaves left by those had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.

John 6.11-13

The disciples’ conversation with Jesus shows they keep bumping into limits, hitting the wall.  Five loaves and two fish are obviously too little to feed the hungry crowd.  However, then as today, the limitations that the community faces doesn’t turn on how much or little food is available.  The real crisis lies in the disciples’ own resources.  Their limitations become the Church’s limitations.

When have you discovered resources you didn’t know you had?

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