Don't hold back! Make a Difference! - Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

2 Kgs 4:42-44

Ps 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18

Eph 4:1-6

Jn 6:1-15

It's interesting to note that in both the first reading from 2 Kings, as well as John's Gospel, we are told about hungry people who need to be fed.  In  Elisha's time, we learn that a man has brought several loaves of bread to the prophet but his servant doesn't want to give it to the waiting people because it is too little to feed all of them.  Elisha essentially tells the servant, "Don't hold back!  Give the bread to the people.  There will be plenty left over!"  And so there was...  The man's loaves of bread made a difference.  Maybe others began to share what they had when they saw the man's generosity...  perhaps, God intervened so that the bread miraculously did not run out until everyone had their fill.

What is important about this for us today, is that we should never hold back in trying to help others in need.  Maybe all we have is a kind and understanding word... but that someone may have needed to hear that another human being cared enough to speak that word of comfort at exactly that moment.
In John's Gospel, Jesus and his disciples see the huge crowd that has gathered to hear the Good News and see the signs and wonders that Jesus had done among them.  Again, the people had not wanted to leave even though they were hungry.  The disciples were concerned because they had no way of providing food for the people.  They had only discovered a few barley loaves and a couple of fish... scarcely enough for one person.  But this didn't concern Jesus at all.  He had already determined what he was going to do.  "It doesn't matter that there is no more than these.  Just pass the loaves and fish around among the people... don't hold back!  There will be plenty left over," Jesus might have said.  And so it was.  The boy's generosity made a difference.  He didn't hold back anything that he had to give.  And Jesus did the rest!

The beautiful psalm this week is a song of praise that recognizes the love and concern of the Lord for his people.  "The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs."  And again, "...you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing."

This is our God...   and we are his people, called to do the same.  So, don't hold back!  Make a difference!


 ~ Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes - a Mosaic in the Church of St. Savior in Chora, Istanbul, Turkey