17th Sunday: Share the Divine Grace

 

Share the Divine Grace

2 Kgs 4:42-44; Eph 4:1-6; Jn 6:1-15 (B 17)

“I Rejoice exceedingly in all my Tribulations” (DO)

 

Through most of Lectionary Cycle B, our Sunday Gospel readings are taken from the Gospel of Mark. Our Lectionary, however, leaves Mark’s Gospel for the next several weeks and instead presents this event from the Gospel of John. In John’s Gospel, Jesus’ multiplication of the loaves and the fishes is presented as a sign of his authority and divinity. Jesus interprets the meaning and significance of this miracle as a sharing of his Body and Blood.

Today, we contemplate how both human and supernatural love can grow in us, given that we use the same heart to love both man and God. Love starts to grow in the human heart with the progressive discovery of that which is attractive in the other person: their friendliness, their goodness. This is the case of the “boy who has five barley loaves and two fish” (Jn 6:9). He gives Jesus all he has got with him, the bread and the fish, because he has let himself be won over by the attractiveness of Jesus. Because a little is always much in the hands of God.

The next step is falling in love, the consequence of feeling a response. “A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick” (Jn 6:2). Jesus listened to them; He paid attention to them because He knew what they needed. But the people looked at him as an earthly king. That’s why, St Augustine says, “Many are those who look for Jesus guided solely by worldly interests! (…) Rarely do they seek Jesus for Jesus.”

The fullness of love is love that gives itself, when we look for the good of a loved one without expecting anything in return, even when it entails personal sacrifice. Today, we can say along with St Josemaria: “Lord, you make us share in the miracle of the Eucharist. We beg you not to hide away. Live with us. May we see you; may we touch you; may we feel you. May we be beside you all the time and have you as the King of our lives and of our work” Finally, we learn Jesus words “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” A gift so precious and obtained so mysteriously was not to be wasted. Our Lord gathered the fragments, perhaps, for the use of his disciples in coming days. In the same way we should never waste anything that is useful for our fellow brethren. He would hereby teach us, not to make waste of any of God's good creatures. Remember how many there are that do want, and that we know not but we may some time or other want such fragments as we throw away. waste for us is much useful for the survival of the needy.

“For nothing so much wins love as the knowledge that one’s lover desires”