The Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

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July 29, 2018

2 Kings 4:42-44; Psalm 145; Ephesians 4:1-6; John 6:1-15

Last week, Jesus demonstrated his great compassion for his people by providing for their emotional and spiritual needs. He continues his care today as he gives everyone food by providing for their material needs. Like a caring parent, he feeds us with miraculous, overflowing generosity, and he gives us a model for treating other people.

The disciples are faced with a daunting challenge. How do they feed so many people when they are utterly unprepared? They don’t have any food or money, but Jesus puts the question before them: How are you going to take care of one another? Most are flummoxed by the question, but Andrew starts with what little he has, and he gets the action started. Andrew’s actions say to the other disciples, “We can do something. We have very little, but it is all we have.” It reminds us that no one has ever become poor by being generous.

We are faced with extensive and overwhelming problems today and it is difficult to know if anything that we can do matters. How does one person stand face-to-face with the oppression of racism, gender and sexual discrimination, and religious prejudice, and take a swing at these social ills. One must feel like the diminutive David as he faces the giant Goliath. Add to that the enormous power of institutions and political systems that quietly oppress other people with unfair policies and unjust economic power in which an individual cannot be blamed for his or her cooperation. It is easy to see that one can feel defeated and can harbor anger and frustration that will never be heard.

We have to remember three points. First, like Andrew, we have to recognize that we have something, which gives us a place to start. Second, we are not alone. There are many thousands or millions of other people who are hungry and in need. As we share with them, we look at them in their faces and see our common humanity and our desire to work towards a common goal. Third, we are not alone. Jesus Christ is the one who makes our small insignificant steps exponentially effective. His care for the neediest among us will magnify our personal care of one another. Our care for one another makes us brother and sister, equal in dignity, equal in worth. Christ gives us our worth, and no one’s hatred, bigotry, or small-mindedness can erode the truth of ourselves. Our lives matter to the one who deliberately created us in beauty and majesty. Our lives matter to the ones who show mercy and call us ‘friend.’ We find that we are given to each other as gifts to be shared and celebrated, and each time we rely upon one another we build a system of trust that is based on the Lord’s mercy.

Like the disciples, when we break bread and share our food, resources, and gifts with one another, we become vulnerable because we risk undergoing a change in attitude, a conversion of heart. We are compelled to look squarely into their eyes and see the astonishing soul before us. We can’t look away. It mirrors the way God looks into our soul and finds it to be among God’s most prized possessions. We stand before the other and realize we have to reckon with our own sinfulness and our participation in the sinful structures of the world, and we know innately that we have to reconcile with one another, with the one who is systemically mistreated. Our souls yearn to say, “I’m sorry. Will you forgive me? I have wronged you and you deserve better.” Only love stops the advance of hatred. Only love turns back the progress of sin. Only love brings about the kingdom of God.

Even though it seems daunting, make that one simple gesture that brings the Lord’s hope to the one in need. Give to one another from your poverty, and your friend will discern your integrity. We stand together because we need each other, and we are many, and there are many mouths to feed, and many needs to fill. Christ has given us a great gift – each other – and through us, he will make himself known to a world that starves for his care. Together, we will see miracles in our lifetime. We can once again dream in freedom.

Scripture for Daily Mass

First Reading: 

Monday: (Jeremiah 13) Again I went to the Parath, sought out and took the loincloth from the place where I had hid it. But it was rotted, good for nothing! Then the message came to me from the LORD: So also I will allow the pride of Judah to rot, the great pride of Jerusalem.

Tuesday: (Jeremiah 14) Let my eyes stream with tears day and night, without rest, Over the great destruction which overwhelms the virgin daughter of my people, over her incurable wound.

Wednesday: (Jeremiah 15) Woe to me, mother, that you gave me birth! a man of strife and contention to all the land! I neither borrow nor lend, yet all curse me. When I found your words, I devoured them.

Thursday: (Jeremiah 18) Rise up, be off to the potter's house; there I will give you my message. I went down to the potter's house and there he was, working at the wheel.
Whenever the object of clay which he was making turned out badly in his hand, he tried again, making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased.

Friday (Jeremiah 26) Stand in the court of the house of the LORD and speak to the people of all the cities of Judah who come to worship in the house of the LORD; whatever I command you, tell them, and omit nothing. Perhaps they will listen and turn back, each from his evil way.

Saturday (Jeremiah 26) Thereupon the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, "This man does not deserve death; it is in the name of the LORD, our God, that he speaks to us." 

Gospel: 

Monday: (Matthew 13) The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the 'birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.

Tuesday: (Matthew 13) He who sows good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed the children of the Kingdom. The weeds are the children of the Evil One, and the enemy who sows them is the Devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.

Wednesday (Matthew 13) The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.

Thursday (Matthew 13) The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age.

Friday (Matthew 13) Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Are not his sisters all with us?

Saturday (Matthew 14) Herod the tetrarch heard of the reputation of Jesus and said to his servants, "This man is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is why mighty powers are at work in him."

Saints of the Week

July 29: Martha (1st century), is the sister of Mary and Lazarus of Bethany near Jerusalem. Martha is considered the busy, activity-attentive sister while Mary is more contemplative. Martha is known for her hospitality and fidelity. She proclaimed her belief that Jesus was the Christ when he appeared after Lazarus had died.

July 30: Peter Chrysologus, bishop and doctor (406-450), was the archbishop of Ravenna, Italy in the 5th century when the faithful became lax and adopted pagan practices. He revived the faith through his preaching. He was titled Chrysologus because of his 'golden words.'

July 31: Ignatius of Loyola, priest (1491-1556), is one of the founders of the Jesuits and the author of the Spiritual Exercises. As a Basque nobleman, he was wounded in a battle at Pamplona in northeastern Spain and convalesced at his castle where he realized he followed a methodology of discernment of spirits. When he recovered, he ministered to the sick and dying and then retreated to a cave at Manresa, Spain where he had experiences that formed the basis of The Spiritual Exercises. In order to preach, he studied Latin, earned a Master’s Degree at the University of Paris, and then gathered other students to serve Jesus. Francis Xavier and Peter Faber were his first friends. After ordination, Ignatius and his nine friends went to Rome where they formally became the Society of Jesus. Most Jesuits were sent on mission, but Ignatius stayed in Rome directing the rapidly growing religious order, composing its constitutions, and perfecting the Spiritual Exercises. He died in 1556 and the Jesuit Order was already 1,000 men strong. 

August 1: Alphonsus Liguori, bishop and doctor (1696-1787), founded a band of mission priests that became the Redemptorists. He wrote a book called "Moral Theology" that linked legal aspects with kindness and compassion for others. He became known for his responsive and thoughtful way of dealing with confessions.

August 2: Peter Faber, S.J., priest and founder (1506-1546), was one of the original companions of the Society of Jesus. He was a French theologian and the first Jesuit priest and was the presider over the first vows of the lay companions. He became known for directing the Spiritual Exercises very well. He was called to the Council of Trent but died as the participants were gathering.

August 2: Eusebius of Vercelli, bishop (d. 371), was ordained bishop after becoming a lector. He attended a council in Milan where he opposed the Arians. The emperor exiled him to Palestine because he contradicted secular influences. He returned to his diocese where the emperor died.

August 2: Peter Julian Eymard, priest (1811-1868) left the Oblates when he became ill. When his father died, he became a priest and soon transferred into the Marists but left them to found the Blessed Sacrament Fathers to promote the significance of the Eucharist.

August 4: John Vianney, priest (1786-1859) became the parish priest in Ars-en-Dombes where he spent the rest of his life preaching and hearing confessions. Hundreds of visitors and pilgrims visited him daily. He would hear confessions 12-16 hours per day.

This Week in Jesuit History

·      Jul 29, 1865. The death in Cincinnati, Ohio of Fr. Peter Arnoudt, a Belgian. He was the author of The Imitation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

·      Jul 30, 1556. As he lay near death, Ignatius asked Juan de Polanco to go and obtain for him the blessing of the pope.

·      Jul 31, 1556. The death in Rome of Ignatius Loyola.

·      Aug 1, 1938. The Jesuits of the Middle United States, by Gilbert Garrigan was copyrighted. This monumental three-volume work followed the history of the Jesuits in the Midwest from the early 1820s to the 1930s.

·      Aug 2, 1981. The death of Gerald Kelly, moral theologian and author of "Modern Youth and Chastity."

·      Aug 3, 1553. Queen Mary Tudor made her solemn entrance into London. As she passed St Paul's School, Edmund Campion, then a boy of thirteen delivered an address.

·      Aug 4, 1871. King Victor Emmanuel signed the decree that sanctioned the seizure of all of the properties belonging to the Roman College and to S. Andrea.