Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
                                                                  July 28, 2024
                                                                    Rev. Jose Maria Cortes, F.S.C.B.
                                                                                                                                                                                Pastor of the Church of St. Peter
                                                                                                                                                                                      North St. Paul, Minnesota

Index
Sunday Reading Meditations

"There is a boy here who has fie barley loaves and two fish, but what good are these for so many?"  (Jn 6:9).

For me, the unknown boy who gave up the loaves and fish that Jesus used to perform the miracle of multiplication is the most inspiring priestly figure of the Gospels.  His offering teaches us the meaning of the priesthood.

That he was just a boy reminds us that we are called to be childlike.  As Jesus says, "unless you urn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 18:3).  We need childlike hearts in order to enter the kingdom of God and help others enter it.  We need the simplicity, purity and curiosity of a child.  To become like children means to embrace humility.  Christ says: "Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 18:4).  Jesus is telling us that to be little is to be great.  True greatness comes from God.  We are great when the center is God and not ourselves.  In the Magnificat, Mary says: "The Mighty One has done great tings for me, and holy is his name" (Lk 1:49).  Our hearts are renewed by our perception of God's action within us and around us in his people.

The boy was the only one who had brought something to eat!  It is easy to imagine his initial reaction when Andrew asked him to give up his lunch.  The apostle might have had to explain the Jesus himself was asking for it.  The boy agreed to relinquish his precious meal for Christ.  Andrew brought the loaves and fish to Jesus.  The boy was left with nothing.  A certain amount of time elapsed between the act of giving and the miracle.  That interval is dramatic.  Between Jesus' death and his resurrection is the descent into hell.  We cross the void of that moment with the certainty of faith: God will fulfill his promises.  At such moments, the enemy tries to convince us that we have lost the loaves and fish for nothing.  However, the certainty of faith allows us to cross those dark valleys, trusting that some unforeseen event is about to occur: the miracle of multiplication.

The boy was astonished when he realized he had not lost anything but was to receive infinitely more in return: "When they had had their fill, he (Jesus) said to is 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" (Jn 6:12-13).  The little that we give becomes superabundance in Christ.  Ultimately, we do not give anything bur accept that God takes everything back, little by little.

A priest is a man who offers everything to God: all the stars in the sky, the depths of the oceans, the mountain heights, the trees and the birds, the beauty of creation, the sins of the world, the dramas of humanity, people who are suffering, people who are far from God, people who are dear to him, his own sins and limits, and his own heart.

We participate in Jesus' offering up of himself to the Father.  At each Mass, through Christ, and with him, and in him, and prompted by the Holy Spirit, we offer all things to the Father.  In Christ we participate in the fulfilment of the cosmos and the glorification of the world.

There is no greater joy then to give everything back to the Father.  Mysteriously, all things become ours.  Saint Paul says: "For everything belongs to you (...) all belong to you, and you to Christ, and Christ to God" (1 Cor 3:21-23).  It is only when we entrust everything to the Father that we can truly become the fathers of those entrusted into our care and thus, with our nothingness, help build God's temple and God's people.

"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good are these for so many?" (Jn 6:9),  Five loaves and two fish by themselves were nothing for "so many."  The "many" that Andrew mentions is the immensity of the Church's mission.  Saint John Paul II's encyclical Redemptoris Missio begins with these words: "The mission of Christ the Redeemer, which is entrusted to the Church, is still very far from completion."  We were ordained priests to serve the mission of the Church.  We have little to offer but Jesus uses this little to feed the crowds who are hungering and thirsting for a meaningful life.

"How can I repay the LORD for all the great good done to me?" (Ps 116:12).  O Lord Jesus Christ, keep me always faithful to your commandments and never let me be parted from you.  O Mary, I renew the consecration of my life and priesthood to your Immaculate Heart.

"How can I repay the LORD for all the great good done to me?  I will raise the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord" (Ps 116:12)  Amen.