17^th Sunday in O.T. (B); July 25, 2021

2 Kgs 4:42-44.  Ps 145.  Eph 4:1-6.  Jn 6:1-15

Deacon Jim McFadden

            In early June we celebrated Corpus Christi Sunday—The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  The Church re-visits the meaning of the Holy Mass and the Eucharist by re-reading the sixth chapter of John’s gospel over several weeks every third summer in the liturgical year.  Why this chapter?  Why does the Church focus so carefully on it?  Ironically,  John’s gospel does not have a narrative of Jesus instituting the Eucharist which we see in the synoptic gospels.  But what this chapter does have is a very defined Eucharistic theology albeit in symbolic form.  Since the Holy Mass is the “fount and summit” of our worship, it behooves us to reflect on this most precious gift in which all of creation “finds its greatest exaltation” (Laudato Si, 236).

            Chapter Six begins in the context of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.  First, we hear this:  “After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (of Tiberius).  (And) a large crowd followed him…(Jn 6:1). This is a motif one sees throughout the gospels: people are attracted to Jesus!  The crowds were simply captivated by him; they wanted to be close to him.  There is something magnetic about Jesus.  The line from the liturgy, written so elegantly, reflects this attraction: “Age to age you gather a people to yourself so that from East to West a perfect offering may be made to the glory of your name.”  This liturgical passage captures the magnetic attractiveness of Jesus because we are here today!  Though, it is incomprehensively sad that 75% our brothers and sisters will not gather with us at the Eucharistic table.  Nonetheless, we are here because we want to be with Jesus and each other to give glory to the triune God. 

            Then we hear, “Jesus went to the mountain…” (v. 3a).  This is an important symbol because ‘mountain’ is the place of encounter with God.  The mountain symbolizes the aspiration of the human spirit upward and the condensation of the divine Spirit downward.  It signifies a meeting of divinity and humanity; a meeting of divine and human freedom in the great God-drama in the Person of Christ Jesus.

            Next, we hear that “he sat down with his disciples” (v. 3b).  In the ancient world, sitting down was the posture of the teacher when he teaches with his students literally at his feet.  This is the Liturgy of the Word; it is Christ speaking to us through the Lector, deacon, or priest.  It is the Word that has invited you to intimacy, that has attracted you, and now you sit down at his feet while he teaches you, especially the words of the Gospel.  Then the Word is extended through the homily.

            Then we hear, “The Jewish feast of Passover was near” (v. 4).  During the Passover, the Hebrews remembered the Exodus from Egypt, which was a movement from oppression to liberation.  They signaled their solidarity as a people with the sharing of the sacred meal, and they ate the lamb that had been sacrificed to Yahweh. 

            What’s the Holy Mass but the re-presentation of the Cross by which Christ liberates us from sin and death?  The Mass in the recapitulation of Exodus in which we enter into the Promised Land—the Kingdom of God. Just as the Passover defined our Jewish brethren as God’s Chosen People, the Mass is a sacred meal which identifies us as Christ’s people, which is why Catholics are essentially a Eucharistic people.

            Then we hear that “Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him” (v. 5a) and that they were hungry.  They symbolized Israel; but, even more broadly, they symbolize the whole human race across space and time, which is hungry not just for physical food, but, above all, hungry for life—hungry for purpose, for meaning, for joy and above all, his divine grace which never fails to satisfy our deepest yearning for communion, fellowship, and harmony.  

            Then Jesus puts the disciples to a test.  How can they feed all of these people?  Philip, one of the Twelve, calculates that if they pooled their resources, they might be able to feed 200 people, which would not make a dent on the 5,000 assembled.  Philip and the other disciples are in a market-place calculus; but, Jesus substitutes buying with another logic: that of giving.  Andrew comes forward with the idea of a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but not enough to feed the multitude.  Jesus, expecting this, orders the disciples to make the crowd sit down before they receive their bread.  This is not an incidental gesture because the new bread of heaven is a free gift of Christ, requiring no effort on the part of those who receive it.  This is in stark contrast to the Israelites in Exodus 16:26, in which the gathering of manna is laborious.  Jesus then takes those loaves and fishes, gives thanks to the Father and distributes them, which prefigures the Last Supper and gives the bread its significance.

            This bread is Jesus himself; it’s not symbolic because he is really Present in the consecrated bread (and wine).  By receiving him in Communion, we receive the divine Life within us and we enter into the dynamic of Trinitarian love, which is transformative at the most basic level of our human experience. The bread and wine have been substantially transformed into his Body and Blood; when we consume the Lord through the sacred species, we become one with our heavenly Father and in fellowship with other members of the Body of Christ, the Church.  By receiving Communion, we encounter and engage Jesus fully Risen and Glorified.  Taking part in the Eucharist means we are entering into the logic of Jesus, which St. John Paul II taught us in the Law of the Gift: the giving and receiving of Life. 

            And, then we have a final tidbit, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted” (v. 12b).  Isn’t this exactly what we do at the end of Holy Mass?  Once we distribute the Body of Christ, we don’t let the fragments go to waste, but we gather them up, which has been the practice of the early Church.  We gather them up to take to the sick, the homebound; we gather them for the Tabernacle.

            Last detail: “So, they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets…”

 (v. 13b).  What is that but the Twelve tribes of Israel?  Jesus came to gather them and through them to gather the entire world.  The Eucharist is the food and drink of the New Kingdom.

            The crowd on the hill were magnetically attracted to Jesus.  Now, they have been taught by Jesus, they were fed by Jesus; and, in the process they have become a new nation.  Well, that’s what happens at every Holy Mass.  We become the new gathered, fed, and satisfied People of God. 

            So, brothers and sisters, let us spend some time with this very rich Sixth Chapter of John over the next several weeks and venture more deeply into this meaningful passage and this beautiful gospel.  Amen.