Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Each of us is that boy on the mountain. Each of us has something that our brothers and sisters need. Will you offer it up, trusting God to provide enough for everyone? Or will you hold it close, trusting you and only you to fill your own belly? Yes, the latter seems more logical, more American. But it is most surely not "a manner worthy of the call you have received." So each of us has a choice to make: Who will you trust to feed you? And who will you trust to answer your deepest needs?

2 Kings 4:42-44; Psalms 145:10-18; Ephesians 4:1-6; John 6:1-15

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

2 Kings 4:42-44; Ephesians 4:1-6; John 6:1-15

It's all about trust. That is the true lesson of these miracles. Do you trust in God or something else? There are moments in life when answering that question is the only challenge that matters. Yes, it is easier to put our faith in the tangible. But where has that gotten us? Look at the problems of modern society. What sort of faith gave them birth? And what would it mean to truly trust Love instead? For to do that is "to live in a manner worthy" of our lineage as true children of the One Parent.

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

2 Kings 4: 42-44; Ephesians 4: 1-6; John 6: 1-15

What does it mean to be generous? Of all the explanations of the "Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes", the one that rings most true would likely be dismissed as not being a "real" miracle: that the people were moved to generosity by Jesus' actions and simply shared the food they already had. Perhaps the "miracle" is that Jesus trusted in them at all. One does not need to look far to see that mistrust and divisiveness are all around us in society and Church. We can probably infer from Paul's writing that it has always been this way. But that does not stop Jesus or Paul from calling us to a different lifestyle, one only possible if we truly believe that we are "one body and one Spirit", that there is "one God and Father of all". If this is true, how can I not look upon both my neighbor and my enemy as good and honorable people, deserving of my generosity, trust, and love? Think of the "miracles" such an attitude might spawn.