Baon

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 26, 2015

Come, ring out our joy to the Lord; hail the God who saves us, alleluia.

First reading                                      2 Kings 4:42-44

A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing Elisha, the man of God, bread from the first-fruits, twenty barley loaves and fresh grain in the ear.’ ‘Give it to the people to eat’, Elisha said. But his servant replied, ‘How can I serve this to a hundred men?’ ‘Give it to the people to eat’ he insisted ‘for the Lord says this, “They will eat and have some left over.”’ He served them; they ate and had some left over, as the Lord had said.

Psalm                                              Psalm 144:10-11,15-18

Second reading                              Ephesians 4: 1-6

I, the prisoner in the Lord, implore you to lead a life worthy of your vocation. Bear with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience. Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, over all, through all and within all.

Gospel                                               John 6:1-15

Jesus went off to the other side of the Sea of Galilee – or of Tiberias – and a large crowd followed him, impressed by the signs he gave by curing the sick. Jesus climbed the hillside, and sat down there with his disciples. It was shortly before the Jewish feast of Passover.

  Looking up, Jesus saw the crowds approaching and said to Philip, ‘Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat?’ He only said this to test Philip; he himself knew exactly what he was going to do. Philip answered, ‘Two hundred denarii would only buy enough to give them a small piece each.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, ‘There is a small boy here with five barley loaves and two fish; but what is that between so many?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Make the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass there, and as many as five thousand men sat down. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and gave them out to all who were sitting ready; he then did the same with the fish, giving out as much as was wanted. When they had eaten enough he said to the disciples, ‘Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing gets wasted.’ So they picked them up, and filled twelve hampers with scraps left over from the meal of five barley loaves. The people, seeing this sign that he had given, said, ‘This really is the prophet who is to come into the world.’ Jesus, who could see they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, escaped back to the hills by himself.

Reflection

By Benj Santiago

“When they had their fill, he said to the 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.”

Elisha on the First Reading performs the miracle of feeding a hundred people with twenty loaves of bread. And when these hundred people have eaten there were some leftovers. A miracle of the same kind happened several hundred years later this time with 5 loaves of bread for more than five thousand people and with more than twelve wicker baskets of leftovers.

The scene on this Sunday’s Gospel reading shows several thousands of men, and the count as indicated in the Bible is about five thousand, not counting the women and the children. They were happily listening and were fed by the Word of God. They were in a deserted place for the intention of Jesus to be there was to give the disciples their much needed rest after their mission.

It was getting late and their physical bodies are already in need of food. So Jesus told the disciples to feed all of them. Philip calculated that it will cost them 200 days of wages!  On top of that, they are in an isolated place, so he said, “Where do we buy the food?” Andrew, the brother of Peter saw a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two fish. Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks and distributed the food. And the miracle happened! They all ate to their fill and there were even so much more in excess afterwards.

These miracles tell me that Jesus do care so much for us. He wants us to have everything to the fullest, with so much excess overflowing. He does not only care about our spiritual needs but is also concerned on our physical bodies that need nourishment.

Bible scholars believe that the five loaves did not actually multiply. It was the generosity of the little boy that got replicated to all the families who were there. The people who were seated simply brought out their own “baon” and started to share.

We are called to be that little boy to offer what we have. To be generous so we can impact others and create an avalanche of generosity which will be able to help and feed thousands of people. And, because we cannot outdo God in His generosity, we will not run out of food. We shall have leftovers more than what we have given.

Prayer

Dear Jesus, we ask You to make us more generous with our gifts. To be more open to give what we have. We pray that You will make us instruments of Your miracle like that little boy with five loaves of bread. Empower us with Your love that we may love and be generous to all people we meet. One with Mary we make this prayer. Amen!