17th Sunday Homily

Below see Video

Fr. Aelred Jones, Engineer, Monk, Priest

Homily - Fr. Aelred 26 July [17th Sunday of Ordinary Time For today and the next four Sundays the next Gospel Readings come from the Chapter six of St John’s Gospel. John, unlike the other three evangelists, has no account of the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. Most of John’s Eucharistic teaching is contained in this Chapter 6, at his Gospel. There are clear Eucharistic overtones in the way the miracle of the teaching of the 5,000 is related. We are told that Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to the people. Such language is meant to remind us of what he did at the Last Supper, and at what happens every time we celebrate the Eucharist. St. John describes me the miraculous things Jesus did as signs. A sign either points us somewhere or tells us something, and this is true at the signs Jesus gave us. The sign of the feeding of the five-thousand- strong crowd points first at all, to the wonderful compassion of Jesus, who was so concerned for the human needs of those around him. This tells us that Jesus is interested in the details of our life, our worries and our fears. Secondly, the feeding of the crowd points us to the faiths of the disciples. Philip was unsure when Jesus asked him where enough bread could be taught to feed everyone. Andrew did a little better. He took a hesitant step in faith and pushed toward the small boy with five loaves and two fish. At the command of Jesus, however, the disciples trustingly did exactly what he asked. This tells us that living by faith can sometimes be shaky and unclear, but that the word of Jesus can be relied upon. Finally, this sign points us to God’s generous provision for our needs. By miraculously feeding the impossibly large with the incredibly small, Jesus reminds us that God always wants to nourish us, both humanly and spiritually. The supreme sign of this is in the Eucharist, when we receive the food and drink that points us towards heaven and tells us we are loved. The Lord nourishes us here in the Eucharistic banquet as surely and generously ass he fed the people in the desert. He nourishes us so that we in our turn may be able to nourish others. Generosity should have a central place in our lives, and we get many opportunities in our everyday dealings with one another to practice it. It’s not only about giving things, but also and more especially about giving of ourselves – of our time, our energy, and our love, some people will only experience God’s generosity through our willingness to give of what we have and, in faith, to allow God to multiply the graces and benefits that will flow from it. God’s generosity strengthens us to trust deeply in God’s care and to show that care to others by sharing what is ours.