Fresh Dew Media

 17^th Sunday Year B: Homily by Fr Isaac Chima

Theme: God alone can grant increase to our resources; set your doubts aside.

Readings: 2kgs 4:42-44; Eph. 4:1-6; Jn. 6:1-15

Dear friends in Christ, did you notice that the crowd in the gospel reading of today set aside their cares and businesses, and even the demands of their stomach just to be with Jesus and hear His word? Did you also notice that Jesus did not abandon them? He, rather, fed them spiritually and materially. Whenever we leave the cares of this world to be with Jesus, to work for Him and to do His will, Jesus will not abandon us. Rather, He will provide our needs and take care of all we left behind.

Most times, some people stay away from spiritual exercises and from services in the Church with the reason that these activities will clash with the time they should give to their businesses, studies or family engagements. But a closer observation will reveal to us that people who actively perform their duties for the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth despite their tight schedules still do well or even better in their businesses, studies, and family life. The reason is quite simple and it is this: if we leave the cares of this world behind and concentrate on Jesus and on doing His will in all things and at all times, He will take care of our needs in return.

Dear friends, the increase that our hearts yearn for does not come just from our efforts nor from dependence on false gods; it is God who grants increase and it is He alone who gives success to the work of our hands. One may wonder why a man from a city under Baal (Baal Shelishah), the god of fertility/increase, decided to bring the first fruit of his farm to the God of Elisha instead of Baal, as we read in today’s first reading. The simple reason was that Baal had failed them, because there was famine in the land; Baal could not grant them the increase and the surplus they needed. But before the eyes of that young man, the true God multiplied the resources he brought to the prophet and a hundred men were fed from it. The true increase and surplus that our hearts yearn for can only come from God and when we submit to Him, not from our efforts alone and not from some charms prepared for us by demonic agents.

Another important lesson for us today is that God wants to use us and whatever we have, no matter how little they may appear, to perform miracles in the lives of other people. In the first reading, it was the man from Shelishah and the few loaves he donated to Elisha that made the miracle of the multiplication of loaves, with which hundred men were fed, possible. And in the gospel, it was the lad and his five loaves of bread and two fish that made the miracle of the multiplication of bread that fed five thousand men possible.

God wants to feed the poor in our world, to heal the sick, to uplift the downtrodden, to give jobs to the jobless, to make peace in families, to establish justice in our world, etc. He wants to make our world more beautiful, but He wants us to lend Him the raw material with which to performs these wonders in people’s life and in our world. These raw materials could be the material goods in our houses, our intelligence, our voices, our talents, our time, etc. God wants them.

However, most times we do refuse to give our hands and our resources to God because we believe they will not be enough for us and our families when we share them with others. But today’s first reading and the gospel teach us that when we keep our goods for our use alone, we will not experience any increase and there will be no extra to keep. If the lad in today’s gospel and the donor in the first reading had been stingy and selfish with their goods, they would not have experienced an increase and they would not have had extra to keep. The increase and the extra they had were because they gave generously. Today, the church is telling you that your one bread should be food for all if you want to experience an increase in your life and in your income. When compassion and generosity embrace, great miracles happen for a community united by one faith, one spirit, and one baptism.

Another important message the Church leaves for us today is that we must set aside that doubt that always tells us that when we share our goods with others, it will not be enough. In the gospel reading, Philip and Andrew manifested this kind of doubt but Jesus showed them what God can do when doubts are set aside. In the first reading, Elisha’s servant had the same doubt but God surprised him. Dear friends, if set your doubts aside today and march towards God to do His will and to compassionately donate what you have for the welfare of others, God will surprise you with a miracle.

Peace be with you and have a blessed Sunday.

Fr Isaac C. Chima