Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Readings for July 31,2011
This Sunday's Gospel is Matthew's telling of the Loaves and Fishes story, one of the most touching, comforting and well-known events in the life of Jesus...but I would also say one of the most puzzling events, because we really don't know why the loaves and fish became so many, or why.
When we are introduced to this tale as young children, it is as Jesus as food magician: He says some special words and poof! Dinner for everyone, demonstrating Jesus' ability to transcend the laws of matter as a sign of his divine powers and authority. As a teenager I began to doubt the efficacy and necessity of this reading of the story, especially after I learned that certain stories of Jesus' childhood wonderworking (animating clay birds, for example) that circulated in the early Church were not considered efficacious and were not included in the official Gospel stories. "Why are some "magic" stories okay, why others are not?", I wondered.
Then I learned of a different explanation of what happened in these Biblical accounts: Perhaps Jesus did not multiply physical food, but multiplied the compassion and empathy in the hearts of the people assembled to hear his message. It's likely that every person or family who gathered in the crowd to hear Jesus had brought food with them. Lacking restaurants, fast food outlets or food stores, when the ancients traveled, they made sure to bring provisions with them, but they may have been suspicious of others, and afraid that their food could be stolen: So they hid their own loaves and fish, taking them out only when alone with their own traveling companions. It was only after their encounter with Jesus, hearing his message of love, compassion and justice that they were moved to share with others, and out of that transformation of hearts came the great abundance that all witnessed and shared. And is that not as great a miracle as a physical "multiplication"?
Biblical scholars say that when a story or parable of Jesus is repeated in more than one Gospel (the technical term is "multiple attestation), it is more likely that the passage is true or, at least, has its origins in the oral traditions of those who actually knew Jesus. I would add, in this case, that these multiple tellings are evidence that this "multiplication" was not a one-time thing: Perhaps every time Jesus spoke, people shared what they had, be it bread and fish or water or wine or just their own stories of why they were there and how Jesus had affected them so positively.
For those of us in professional or volunteer ministry, may we seek to transform situations of suspicion, doubt and selfishness into occasions of altruism, empathy and pracitical love, always leaving room, however, for the miraculous possbility of Divine intervention. For in the end, we will never know how all those men, women and children were fed.
Kate Kinser is an educator and pastoral counselor, working with immigrants and interfaith families.
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| About Living the Word | |
LIVING THE WORD...opportunity, challenge, commitment
Opportunity: Living the Word is an opportunity for us to grow in our knowledge and love of God through the prayerful reading and study of the scriptures.
Challenge: Living the Word is a challenge to make more time for God in our daily lives. We challenge ourselves to come to Mass each week ready to hear God's Word proclaimed and to take that Word to the world!
Commitment: Living the Word invites us to commit ourselves to spending time with God's Word several times each week. As we read and reread these scriptures, think about the words we read, and bring these words to prayer, we encounter Christ, God's Living Word.
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| What is a Lectionary? | |
A lectionary is a list of scripture readings (also called "lections," from the Latin lectio) selected for reading at worship services; it is also the book containing the actual readings. The term is most commonly used in the Catholic Church for the Lectionary for Mass, which contains the readings prescribed for the Masses for Sundays, feast days, weekdays, sacramental celebrations, funerals, and Masses for special occasions or particular devotions-basically, any Mass.
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| Lectio Divina... | | "Lectio divina is a slow, contemplative praying of the Scriptures. Time set aside in a special way for lectio divina enables us to discover in our daily life an underlying spiritual rhythm. Within this rhythm, we discover an increasing ability to offer more of ourselves and our relationships to the Father, and to accept the embrace that God is continuously extending to us in the person of his son, Jesus Christ."
Father Luke Dysinger, O.S.B
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