One Minute Reflection – 29 July – Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Today’s Gospel: John 6:1–15
“This is indeed the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world!”…John 6:14
REFLECTION – “The disciples say that they have only five loaves and two fish. The five loaves signified that they were still subject to the five books of the Law and the two fish that they were fed by the teachings of the prophets and John the Baptist… This was what the apostles had to offer to begin with since this was the point they were at and it was from this point, that the preaching of the Gospel began…
Our Lord took the loaves and the fish. He raised his eyes to heaven, said the blessing and broke them. He gave thanks to the Father because the Good News was being changed into food after centuries of the Law and the prophets… The loaves were then given to the apostles, it was at their hands, that the gifts of divine grace were to be handed out. Then the people were fed with the five loaves and two fish and, when those who were invited were satisfied, the leftovers of bread and fish were so plentiful that twelve baskets were filled with them. What this means is that the crowd was filled with God’s word coming from the teaching of the Law and the prophets. But it is an abundance of divine power, kept aside for the gentiles, that overflows after the provision of the food that lasts forever. It comes to its full complement, that of the number twelve, the same as the number of the apostles. Now, it happens that the number of those who ate is the same as that of those who would come to believe: five thousand men (Mt 14:21; Acts 4:4).”…St Hilary (c 315-367) Bishop of Poitiers, Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – Lord God, protector of those who hope in You, without whom nothing is strong, nothing holy, support us always with Your love. Help us to offer our own ‘loaves and fishes’ our own talents and possessions, to feed all who need our care. May the prayers of St Martha grant us Your grace to serve Christ faithfully in our brethren and guide us so to use the good things of this world, that even now, we may hold fast to what endures forever, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen
AnaStpaul 