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27 Sep 2015 - Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them. The stories of Jesus’ multiplication of food and feeding of large numbers of people are told six times in the gospels, and readers therefore would be correct not only to note their importance but also to hear in them overtones of the eucharistic celebration. The Gospel of John’s version adds a variation. Whereas the synoptic gospels describe Jesus taking, breaking, blessing, and giving the food, John has him taking, giving thanks (eucharisteō), and distributing it. The Letter to the Ephesians offers Christ as a model to imitate. Together the two gospel stories of miraculous feeding provide just that in their account of the eucharistic action.

Authors Joel Schorn

miracles eucharistic

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Exploring the word

26 Jul 2015 - Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Church is a place where we say a lot of incredible stuff. We say God is Three-in-One. That Jesus is just like God and just like us. That a crucified man rose from the dead—and that after we die, we won’t stay dead either. We say Mary is a Virgin and a Mother. That sins are forgiven, no matter how terrible they are and no matter how unworthy we are. That the day is coming when the poor will be rich and the rich will be sorry. We say the queue we’re standing in will reverse directions: the last wind up first and the first last. We say that feeding a hungry person, any hungry person, is the same as making a sandwich for God. And we say that when we eat and drink at Mass, we’re eating and drinking the life of Jesus—and not only that, but that we leave Mass as the living Christ for the sake of the world! We say a lot of fantastical things in church. So the question is: How many of them do we believe? Really? We all know the right answer; it’s harder to give the honest answer. An honest answer might be that most of us want to believe these things. We’re like the father in a gospel story who wants his son to be healed, but when asked by Jesus if he believes it’s possible, says frankly: “Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief!” We want to believe what our faith teaches, what the gospel has to say, because it’s a great message, a wonderful vision, a more hopeful future than the world is heading for or seems to deserve. We look hopefully to the Lord, as today’s psalm says, for all of our heart’s desires. But many of us also harbor doubts, deep doubts. Because we just can’t see from here how all of that can possibly be. We’re like the prophet Elisha’s servant in the first reading, who sees 20 small barley loaves on the table and a hundred famished people coming for supper and says: “It’s not enough.” Faith is one thing; math is another. The figures don’t add up. The accountant in all of us dismisses this equation as unwieldy, to say the least. How much more does the accountant spirit in Andrew and Peter balk at five loaves, two fish, and 5,000 guests for dinner? Yet it turns out to be enough, and more than enough. No wonder the crowds want to crown Jesus king of the Jews then and there! It’s easy to put your trust in God after the miracle. Faith requires front-loading your trust: in forgiveness, in resurrection, in divine rescue across the board. Related scripture links God’s generosity at work: Gen. 33:11; Num. 10:29; Sir. 35:7-14; Luke 6:38 The evils of gluttony and excess: Sir. 31:12-20; 37:26-30; Amos 4:1-3; 6:1-7 Lilies of the field: Matt. 6:25-34; Luke 12:22-34 Faith is sufficient: Matt. 17:19-20; Mark 5:34, 36; 6:8; 11:22-24; Luke 11:9-13; John 14:12-14; 20:27-29; 2 Cor. 5:7; Gal. 5:6; Heb. 11:1

Authors Alice Camille

Faith Miracle

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26 Jul 2015 - Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A huge crowd followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him do among the sick. When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and sat down, surrounded by his disciples. It was nearly time for the Feast of Passover. When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?” He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do. Philip answered, “Two hundred silver pieces wouldn’t be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece.” One of the disciples said, “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” They sat down, about 5,000 of them. Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted. When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted.” They went to work and filled 12 large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves. The people realized that God was at work among them in what Jesus had just done. They said, “This is the Prophet for sure, God’s Prophet right here in Galilee!” Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself (from John 6). Taken from The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2014 ); actapublications.com.

Loaves Miracle

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Homily stories

26 Jul 2015 - Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Many have heard an alternate reading of Jesus’ miracle of feeding thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread. Some scholars have reasoned that if people of Jesus’ day were planning to go to an out-of-the-way place to hear Jesus preach, they would surely have taken along provisions, there being no McDonald’s at hand. The miracle was that upon seeing Jesus and his companions willingly share the little food they had, people in the crowd were moved to follow suit, and that is how all were fed. Their hearts were broken open. On the other hand, other readers of scripture find that this explanation denies the reality of miracles, and these occur all around us if we have eyes to see. Last fall, a 90-year-old resident of Fort Lauderdale, Florida was threatened with a $500 fine and jail time for feeding the homeless. Arnold Abbot has, for all of his life, taken it on himself to feed the hungry, and his latest effort is a regular Sunday feeding in a local park. It seems that the city government finds this activity disorganized and unregulated, so Arnold was cited more than once. Not only is this man’s generosity and courage miraculous, but so was the outrage around the world by people in support of this elderly man “fighting city hall” to feed the hungry. Even if our faith is halting; even if we come to Jesus with our meager abilities and talents; even if we’re overcome by the inadequacy of what we have and wonder, “What is this little when the need is so great?” handing over that “little” that we have to Christ will be more than enough, and there will be miracles of trust, forgiveness, generosity, healing, and love.

Authors Father Larry Janowski O.F.M.

Loaves Miracle

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Homily themes

26 Jul 2015 - Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them. The stories of Jesus’ multiplication of food and feeding of large numbers of people are told six times in the gospels, and readers therefore would be correct not only to note their importance but also to hear in them overtones of the eucharistic celebration. The Gospel of John’s version adds a variation. Whereas the synoptic gospels describe Jesus taking, breaking, blessing, and giving the food, John has him taking, giving thanks (eucharisteō), and distributing it. The Letter to the Ephesians offers Christ as a model to imitate. Together the two gospel stories of miraculous feeding provide just that in their account of the eucharistic action.

Loaves Miracle Eucharist

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Exploring the word

28 Jun 2015 - Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Last winter I couldn’t get anything done. It kept snowing! No matter what task I was trying to perform—cooking, writing, lesson planning, laundry—I’d have to set it aside, put on my winter combat armor, and step outside to shovel more snow. Funny thing is, it’s summer and the situation hasn’t improved. I start a task—and the phone rings, the e-mail bleeps, or my attention is captured by some domestic matter that suddenly appears urgent or irresistible. All excuses aside, life is an endless series of interruptions that are overcome only by the final interruption of our demise. If you’re not being interrupted, you’re not living. Jesus would agree. During his Galilean ministry, he escapes one mob only by taking to the sea. Docking on the far shore, he encounters another crowd. Mark gives us one of his brilliant little details to spice up the scene: As the crowd moves in, Jesus “stayed close to the sea.” Keep the boat handy, boys. We may need a quick getaway! An important man named Jairus breaks through the throng and pleads with Jesus to save his little girl’s life. If Jesus had a sermon planned or any sort of agenda for that crowd, he abandons it lightly to follow Jairus. So too does the large, claustrophobia-inducing multitude. Meanwhile, at least one member of that group has another agenda for Jesus and is determined enough to pursue it. She reaches out to snatch a miracle from him. And guess what? It works. This surprising event—the only miracle in the gospels in which someone initiates or steals a healing— startles even Jesus. This is the sort of interruption that’s downright unique to his otherwise quite singular experience as Son of God. He just has to acknowledge it—and her. Then comes another interruption. Jairus’ daughter has died, and a healer is no longer needed. Jesus interrupts this report with his own message: Now is not the time for fear but for faith! He proceeds to enter the house and interrupt a full mourning committee in progress. “He puts them all out” (Mark telegraphs the scene in his usual economic style, but we can imagine what throwing out a group of wailers and weepers must have been like) and goes on to interrupt death itself by restoring the child, who walks around. Walking around is what children do—under normal circumstances, which these aren’t. This explosively normal activity was the premiere interruption of the afternoon, shattering all expectations. No one seems to know how to hit the reset button and continue with this day. Jesus tells them quite practically to feed the girl. Interruptions, after all, were Jesus’ business. Maybe we should treat our own daily distractions with a little more respect. Related scripture links Death has no sting: Hos. 13:14; 1 Cor. 15:55-56 The God of the living: Matt. 22:32-33; Luke 20:37-38 Wages of sin: Rom. 6:23 Every knee must bend before Jesus: Phil. 2:10 Gathered in faith: Matt. 18:20

Authors Alice Camille

Healing Miracle Healer

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28 Jun 2015 - Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

After Jesus crossed over by boat, a large crowd met him. One of the meeting-place leaders named Jairus came. When he saw Jesus, he fell to his knees and begged, “My dear daughter is at death’s door. Come and lay hands on her so she will get well and live.” Jesus went with him, the whole crowd tagging along, pushing and jostling him. A woman who had suffered a condition of hemorrhaging for 12 years ... slipped in from behind and touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, “If I can put a finger on his robe, I can get well.” The moment she did it, the flow of blood dried up. She could feel the change and knew her plague was over. At the same moment, Jesus felt energy discharging from him. He turned around to the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”... The woman, knowing what had happened, knowing she was the one, stepped up in fear and trembling, knelt before him, and gave him the whole story. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you’re healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague.” While he was still talking, some people came from the leader’s house and told him, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?” Jesus overheard them and said to the leader, “Don’t listen to them; just trust me.” They entered the leader’s house and pushed their way through the gossips and neighbors bringing in casseroles. Jesus was abrupt: “Why all this busybody grief and gossip? This child isn’t dead; she’s sleeping.” He took the child’s father and mother, along with his companions, and entered the child’s room. He clasped the girl’s hand and said, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Little girl, get up.” At that, she was up and walking around! They, of course, were all beside themselves with joy. He gave them strict orders that no one was to know what had taken place in that room. Then he said, “Give her something to eat” (from Mark 5). Taken from The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2014 ); actapublications.com; 800-397-2282.

Healing Miracle Healer

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28 Jun 2015 - Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

“If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” The two stories in the gospel speak of the power of touch and body. The woman with a hemorrhage touched Jesus, while Jesus touched the synagogue official’s daughter. Both the woman and Jesus felt something in their bodies, in Jesus’ case “that power had gone out from him” and in the woman’s “that she was healed of her affliction.” In both stories the body was a source of healing and also the place of healing and reawakened life. Jesus affirmed the body’s value by crossing ritual purity lines left and right and by acknowledging a basic need of the body: “something to eat.”

Healing Miracle Healer

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10 Aug 2014 - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night. Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about 4 o’clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits. “A ghost!” they said, crying out in terror. But Jesus was quick to comfort them. “Courage, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.” Peter, suddenly bold, said, “Master, if it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come ahead.” Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!” Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?” The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, “This is it! You are God’s Son for sure!” From New Message 4 Next Week (actapublications.com/newmessage4nextweek) based on The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition by Eugene Peterson (ACTA Publications, 2014).

Miracle Courage fear

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