July 25 - 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
(2 Kgs 4:42-44; Eph 4:1-6; Jn 6:1-15)
A small effort by us is transformed by God into something huge! That's what happens with Elisha in the first reading. The man from Ball-shalishah decided to donate to Elisha, the man of God, twenty barley loaves. Elisha had a hundred people with him in his mission to bring God to a nation that had fallen into faithlessness and idolatry. Twenty loaves normally would not go very far. Also barley was considered to be a lesser grain, for donkeys and other animals. This was a very humble gift. Elisha's servant did not even want to bother setting it before the people. But Elisha insisted, and predicted that it would be more than enough. And it was. There was even some left over. Jesus does him one better in the Gospel when he causes five loaves (also from barley) and two fish to suffice for feeding 5000 men. The difference between these two readings is that the first one shows how our small efforts are made sufficient for everyday needs by God; but the Gospel is the introduction to the Bread of Life discourse which occurs a few verses later. The multiplication of loaves prefigures the institution of the Eucharist. This suggests that our small efforts are not only amplified by God, but through the sacrifice of Jesus are elevated by God to bring salvation. All we know about the twenty loaves given to Elisha is that there was “some left over.” But the food multiplied by Jesus was certainly miraculous because the left-overs filled twelve wicker baskets. When we offer the bread and wine in the holy sacrifice of the mass, we are like the boy in the Gospel who provided the five loaves and two fish. Our humble offering is used by God to give us the means to eternal life.