Seventeenth Sunday in
Ordinary Time

Jesus was a person who seized the moment.  He knew his days were numbered because the Jewish authorities had him in their sights.  With the Passover Festival near at hand, he finds himself on the hillsides above the Sea of Galilee with twelve apostles and a large hungry crowd. The people had gathered because of his healing of the sick and the message he was preaching.  When Jesus asks the Apostles “Where shall we buy bread so that these people may eat?” he was making sure he had everyone’s attention. Is it possible he knew there was more than enough food if only people opened their hearts to each other?  And was the generosity of the boy with his five barley loaves and two fish all that was required to encourage everyone to share what they had.

When the crowd had been fed, Jesus speaks to them in words which clearly foreshadow a new Passover and a Eucharistic meal which they can repeat as they remember him and his message. Can we see the connections between the hillside in Galilee and the Upper room in Jerusalem?  The grassy hillside becomes the banquet hall, the twelve apostles are the acolytes who see that all is in order and nothing wasted.  The boy with the loaves and fishes is the altar server.  Jesus takes the boy’s offering and includes all that each person is willing to share.  If Dermot Dorgan had been alive then we might have heard the following hymn as Jesus blessed their gifts.

          “Five thousand people, some fish and some bread.

          Break it and share it, there’s plenty. “he said.

          “Don’t close your hearts, keep them open instead

          And no one will have to go  hungry”.

Recent world news told us that two thirds of Asian countries are hungry.  Families have to decide whether a child will go to school or they will put food on the table.  Can we hear God’s voice, “They shall eat and there will be some left over.”?  All that is needed is for someone to begin the sharing process.  God’s hands are tied until we open our bread baskets, along with our hearts, until we love our neighbour as we love ourselves.

It is possible to see in the dry, Australian Centre this year, a parallel in nature, of what happens when sharing takes place.  Because the nearby States are sharing the precious overflow from their rivers, Lake Eyre is once again an inland sea.  The cattle are fattening on the plentiful grasses, thousands of birds have returned to their favourite breeding grounds and wild flowers carpet the ground.

What needs and gifts do we share with those in our community?