CELEBRACIONES DE LA EUCARISTÍA

26/7/09

Gobierno

Lecturas:2Re 4, 42-44
Ef 4, 1-6
Jn 6, 1-15
Presidente: Emanuel Lim sj
Preparada por Japón

HOMILÍA


Dear Sisters,
In today’s 1st reading and Gospel, we heard the stories of multiplication of the loaves. We are also aware that the feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle of Jesus that is recorded in all four Gospels. The introduction gives us the setting and the time. Jesus is on a mountain with his disciples and the feast of the Passover is near. There is a crowd of people who have followed Jesus to this location, attracted by the signs he was doing. The mountain may recall Moses going up the mountain to receive the law. What was begun with Moses is about to be fulfilled by Jesus.

A problem develops around the issue of food. The large crowd will need to eat, but there are hardly any provisions available. Jesus himself raises the issue, but only to test his disciples. He is fully in charge and he knows how the problem is going to be solved. There are only five barley loaves and two fish available, it is the result of the generosity of a boy. These are next to nothing in the face of what is needed. Jesus proceeds to do two things. First, he has the crowd of over five thousand sit down on the grass as if they were preparing to have a meal. Secondly, after giving thanks, Jesus himself feeds the entire crowd with the five barley loaves and two fish. We are only told that Jesus did this. There is no hint how he did it. Not only was everyone fed, but there were twelve baskets of fragments left over.

This action of Jesus is a sign which reveals something about him on a very deep level. He is the bread of life and he feeds his people. The story is filled with Eucharistic overtones. Passover celebrates the gift of manna and here Jesus celebrates the bread of life. Even the word “fragments” was used early on in the church to refer to the Eucharistic bread. This miracle leads the people to make a profession of faith. They also want immediately to make Jesus a king, perhaps seeing in him the prophet like Moses referred to in the Book of Deuteronomy. Jesus himself will have nothing to do with their scheme. The people’s understanding of a messiah does not match up with who Jesus really is.

Through the Scripture Readings we have heard today, I would like to offer the following points for reflection.

1.- All is grace

All that we have is the gift of a loving God. It is true, that much depends on what we do with the gifts and talents we have, but even that inspiration is a gift from God. We have to remember that God wants to grace us, it is what God likes to do. There are no strings attached to God’s grace. At the same time, God is never stingy with us, on the contrary, He would always grace us with superabundance.

2.- Faith + Generosity = Abundance (Miracle)

If we trust in God who will never let His people down when they are in need, we will tend to respond to Him by our action of generosity. This is what we have seen in today’s 1st Reading and Gospel passages. Elisha was confident that God will provide. He generously offered his gifts, twenty barley loaves and fresh grain to hundred men who had nothing to eat. Not only will the people have enough to eat but there will even be some left over.

In the same situation, Jesus, through the generosity of a boy, who offered him five loaves and two fish, was able to feed a crowd of more than five thousand.
We religious are called to be persons of living faith, and living our life with a generous spirit. It is in the spirit of generosity that we take our faith into action. God needs our generosity to bring His love and grace to His people. God needs our generosity to work miracles among His people.

3.- Jesus is the King of all Christians

I guess all Christians would not have problem acknowledging Christ as our King, especially for us Catholics, we are reminded of this at least once a year when we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King in November.

However, how do we see Christ’s kingship? Many people wanted to make Jesus their king in the Gospel. We heard that in today’s Gospel passage, and Jesus escaped that situation. It is obvious that Christ does not agree with the idea of kingship which the people wanted to bestow on him.

How do we treat Christ our King? How do we honour him and respect him? It is important for us to love and respect him by doing what he wants us to do rather than what we want to do for Him. We work very hard to honour our King that is projected from our wants and needs. In many situations, Christ did not ask us to do what we are doing. Instead it is the ego in us which we projected as Christ our King. Discernment is a very important process for us to live our life faithfully to the service of our Lord and King.

Let me conclude by inviting everyone to ask oneself “How is my life?” Do I feel that I am graced by God with gifts or I feel that I am poor and have nothing to offer to our bothers and sisters. Although we pronounce the vow of poverty, in reality, we are never poor. In fact we are always enriched by our Lord in many ways. Only if we can see the riches that the Lord has bestowed on us, that would lead us to live a life for our Lord with great generosity.

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