Deacon Larry

 

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2 Kgs 4: 42-44; Eph 4: 1-6; Jn 6: 1-15

Dc. Larry Brockman

Put yourself in the shoes of the boy in today’s Gospel.  You see, you have 5 small barley loaves and two fish that your mother packed for lunch.  They were just meant for you.  Then, you see some men around you discussing how to feed 5000 people in the crowd.  So, you, a small boy who has been following Jesus, offer your lunch up.  The people of this world would think of you as a fool.  They would be shocked, angry, and skeptical that Jesus would take a meager lunch from the boy as well.  After all, Jesus disciples even said “But what are these among so many”.  But you offered them up with generosity, hoping and trusting that Jesus would make a difference.  And Jesus did make a difference.  We know that from the meager assets that this one small boy had, God provided for his people with plenty left over.   

It was the same in the story about Elisha.  In the midst of a famine in Elisha’s town, someone arrives with a few barley loaves.  Now barley loaves were typically small, and simply would not go very far.  But, trusting in God, Elisha feeds 100 people with them.   

So, both the Gospel and the Old Testament story about Elisha make a similar point.  The gifts we are given are not just for our benefit, but rather, we are entrusted with them as stewards.  They are meant to be used for the greater glory of God at the right time and place as chosen by God, and we need to trust in God’s providence that things will work out even when it seems unlikely.   

So, the question that comes to mind is this:  Which loaves and fish is God asking you to entrust to his care today, right now?  What do you have that you are being called to share with others for the greater glory of God?  Is it your time?  Maybe God has been whispering to you for a while, asking you to spend some more time with him each day in prayer, or in reading a good spiritual book, or in reflecting on the Bible.  You may be busy with the cares of life, so you feel you don’t have the time!  But God can work wonders with whatever little bit of time you do give him. 

On the other hand, maybe it’s some special talent you have.  Maybe God has put a desire in your heart to do something for him or for your neighbor, to start something new, to reach out to those in need.  But you have been afraid of trying, or are afraid of failing.  Rest assured though, God can multiply whatever little talent you have, if you just put it sincerely and obediently into his hands. 

Maybe it’s a gift to you which is as simple as the ability to provide a little talk.  Possibly there is someone in your life that you need to speak to – to speak a word of forgiveness, or an apology, or possibly an invite back to the Church.  Or maybe they just need a word of encouragement to walk away from some destructive behavior.  God could help you to know the right thing to say, to turn your words into seeds of grace, if only you place them in his hands, and take a chance.  Whatever it is, God can work miracles with whatever you have that you place in his trust.  It happens at the most unexpected times, and in the most unexpected circumstances.  Like the small boy whose lunch feeds 5000 people, or the man who offers a gift of the first fruits to a prophet, and it breaks a terrible famine for the prophet’s people.   

And it happens in our day and age too.  There was once an old Christian Chinese man named Yo-San.  He worked in the rice fields and lived alone in poverty in a boat on a river.  He came to the missionary one day and said, “Father, wouldn’t it be good if we could have a real church instead of the wooden hut?”  “Indeed it would,” the priest answered, “but it will take us a long time to raise the money.”  “Father,” said Yo-San, “I would like to pay for the building of a new church.”  Yo-San then produced the actual amount of cash needed to build the Church.  The priest was astounded, and so Yo-San explained.  Years ago, when he was a young man just receiving his first instruction in the faith, he had heard the priest that the purpose of our life is to give glory to God.  Hearing this, he conceived the desire to someday build a temple to God’s name.  So, for forty years, living with no family and no house, he had managed to lay aside most of his scanty wages, which he now offered to the priest.  The priest objected to the gift, seeing that Yo-San was old and would soon need the money to support himself.  But Yo San said that God would take care of him, and begged the Father to grant his life-long desire.  The priest finally consented.  The church was built and it was standing-room-only when the first Mass was celebrated there.  After the Mass, Yo-San stayed kneeling in the beautiful little church for a long time.  That afternoon he was found lifeless, still kneeling – his heart broken with joy and gratitude.  Indeed, Yo-San was a man who understood the real value of offering our poor efforts to God. 

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