Reading I 2 Kgs 4:42-44
A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God,
twenty barley loaves made from the firstfruits, and fresh grain in the ear.
Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.”
But his servant objected, “How can I set this before a hundred people?”
Elisha insisted, “Give it to the people to eat.”
“For thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and there shall be some
left over.’”
And when they had eaten, there was some left over,
as the LORD had said.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18
R. (cf. 16) The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD, and let your faithful ones bless you.
Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The eyes of all look hopefully to you, and you give them their food in due season;
you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
The LORD is just in all his ways and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.
R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.
Reading II Eph 4:1-6
Brothers and sisters: I, a prisoner for the Lord,
urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love,
striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:
one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of
your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Alleluia Lk 7:16
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A great prophet has risen in our midst.
God has visited his people.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Jn 6:1-15
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee.
A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing
on the sick.
Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.
The Jewish feast of Passover was near.
When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,
he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to
eat?”
He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going
to do.
Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food
would not be enough for each of them to have a little.”
One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to
him, “There is a boy here who has five barley
loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people recline.”
Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
“Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.”
So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
“This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
This is the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time and this week, Jesus performs another miracle!
With only 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread, Jesus feeds 5000 people.
And there are 12 baskets left over, which is more than they had to begin with!
This is definitely a story about Jesus as a miracle worker.
But, it’s also a story about the Eucharist.
The Gospel of John often tells us about Jesus and his disciples using symbols, such as the
fish and loaves.
What’s a symbol?
A symbol is something that stands for something else.
For example, this cloud with light is a symbol for God.
God is not actually a cloud, but this cloud and light represent God and his love shining
down on us.
The cross is also a symbol for Jesus dying, rising, and saving us.
It represents his sacrifice and our salvation.
The main symbols in this gospel are the 2 fish and 5 loaves that Jesus gives the people.
This food makes us think of the Eucharist, Jesus’s actual body and blood, that he will
soon give them.
Like the fish and the loaves, the Eucharist fills us up.
Just like our bodies can’t live without food, our souls can’t live without the Eucharist.
And like food, we need to eat Jesus’s body all the time, which is why we go to Mass every
Sunday.
The Eucharist is also like food because we eat it with other people.
Your family shares meals.
The Church shares the Eucharist.
It brings us all together every time we go to Mass.
Sometimes, after a big meal, there are yummy leftovers for the next day.
In the story of the miracle, there were 12 baskets of leftovers after Jesus fed the crowd.
This shows that when Jesus feeds us with his own body, the Eucharist, there are leftovers,
because God never runs out of love for us!
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