SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B
THE BREAD: A CAUSE OF CONFLICT AND A SIGN OF COMMUNION
Introduction
To give courage to the Israelites, who were panicking in the face of the Canaanites, people of imposing stature, Joshua and Caleb exclaimed: "Do not be afraid, they are bread for us!" (Num 14:9). Curious coincidence: the Hebrew root from which the term bread derives is composed of the same consonants as the verb to fight to indicate that the struggle for food is the root cause of wars. Even the disagreements between Israel and the Lord are derived from the scarcity of bread: "In the land of Egypt, we sat eating bread to the full"(Ex 16:3).
Only when it is shared does bread cease to be a reason for competition and contention and become a sign of love and fraternity. To eat bread with someone is to consider him or her a close friend, a trusted friend, an ally from whom no betrayal is expected (Ps 41:10). The most substantial tensions, the deadliest grudges, are manifested in the silences at the table, and the most embarrassing discussions are those that break out between diners.
By its very nature, the banquet is an expression of peace and reconciliation (Gen 31:53-54), which is why God chose it as the image of his kingdom. He will prepare a banquet where "the poor will eat to their fill" (Ps 22:27). This is his dream: to contemplate one day all his children, like saplings of olive trees, around his table (Ps 128:3).
"The poor shall eat and be satisfied if I dare to share my goods."
First Reading: 2 Kings 4:42-44
What did the ‘poor of the earth’ of Israel dream of? Not great things, only to have plenty of bread and perhaps to eat, like the rich, three times a day. The abundance of bread was the sign of God's blessing (Ps 37:25), and its scarcity a punishment for sin (Ezk 4:16-17). The scene narrated in today's reading is set during a terrible famine. The situation was so desperate that, to survive, people ate roots, leaves, and herbs, even poisonous ones (2 Kings 4:38-41).
The term famine occurs 134 times in the Old Testament, many because, due to the scarcity of rainfall, the lands of the ancient Middle East were often struck by this calamity. Therefore, in a time of famine, a man from Baal Salisa comes to Elisha and offers him twenty loaves of barley (v. 42).
Barley also grows on poor, rough ground and is less valuable than wheat (Rev 6:6). Its maturation cycle is shorter than other grains, so it is the first to be harvested; it is reaped in the spring, around Passover. The wealthy preferred wheat bread, while the poorer classes were content with barley bread, which cost less.
Therefore, it is a poor farmer who, with a gesture of moving generosity, deprives himself of the precious food to give to the prophet. He does not keep the first fruits of his field for himself; he feels the need to share the gift received from God with others. Bread is a gift from the Lord and must be immediately shared with those who do not have it: "He who has a generous eye will be blessed, for he gives his bread to the poor" (Pro 22:9).
Elisha, in turn, allows himself to be involved in this dynamic of gift, put into action by the man of Baal Salisa. He does not put the bread in his saddlebag to take it to his home but invites his servant to distribute it to the hundred hungry people around him. The servant's reaction is skeptical: "How can I put this in front of a hundred people?" (v. 43). Unless a miracle intervenes, it is not possible to solve the hunger of so many people with so few resources. The prophet invites him to trust, assuring him: "Everyone will eat of it and there will be more" (v. 43).
The miracle is possible and will happen, but only on the condition that we dare to believe in the promise of the Lord and trust the apparently absurd and senseless disposition of the prophet who orders to distribute, to share, to put in common. There will be enough food for everyone, and there will be leftovers, but no one should hoard more than he or she needs to be satisfied. Whoever, distrusting the Lord's providence or moved by greed and covetousness, steals part of it from his brothers and sisters to keep it, hide it, accumulate it for himself, the next day will see it, like the manna, rotten and full of worms (Ex 16:20).
God does not multiply bread from anything, He does not make it rain from heaven,and He does not replace man in the solution of the problem of hunger. He accomplishes his wonders through those who trust in his word.
Here is the dynamic that led to the miracle: first there was the generous gesture of a man from Baal Salisa who offered the fruit of his labor, then came Elisha's decision to share the gift he had received, and finally the miracle happened: "Everyone ate, and there was more, according to the word of the Lord" (v. 43).
Today it is certainly true that only a miracle can solve the problem of hunger in the world. Yet, it is possible to obtain it; it is enough to have the courage, against all human logic, to trust the Gospel and, like Peter invited to go fishing at noon, exclaim: "At your word..." (Lk 5:5) and act accordingly.
Second Reading: Ephesians 4:1-6
This passage begins the part of the Letter to the Ephesians dedicated to moral exhortations, and the first theme introduced is that of the unity of the church. In the first verses (vv. 1-3), some characteristics of the new life of the baptized are listed. They are introduced regarding the apostle Paul, a prisoner in the Lord (v. 1). The authenticity of his message is proven by his willingness to lay down his life for the Gospel.
The first distinguishing mark of the disciple is humility, understood as the choice of the last place, readiness to serve, and lowering oneself to raise the poor. Then come meekness, patience, and forbearance (v. 2). A Christian is not quarrelsome and irritable, does not claim to be always right, knows that people have qualities and limitations, virtues and flaws, gifts and meanness. Following the example of the Master, Paul renounces all forms of aggression and violence and seeks unity, reconciliation, and peace in every way.
In the second part of the passage (vv. 4-6), the theme of unity is further dealt with. There are seven reasons why unity must reign among Christians: "Let there be one body and one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, the Father of all." It is difficult to explain why the mention of the one Eucharistic bread has been forgotten.
The unity of a community is not the fruit of sympathies or the result of the intertwining of selfish interests. Like everyone else, Christians would have a thousand reasons to be divided and at odds. There are differences among them in race, language, culture, economic conditions, mentality, character... The same religion, at times, is a reason for disagreement; there are many professions of faith in the same Christ. Diversity, however, must not generate envy or create competition; it constitutes richness and is intended to encourage mutual help, collaboration, and complementarity. This is the reason why, in the following verses (vv. 11-16), the Letter to the Ephesians will describe the Christian community as a well-composed body in which each member has its function and task.
Gospel: John 6:1-15
For five consecutive Sundays, the reading from Mark's Gospel is interrupted, and chapter 6 of John's Gospel is proposed. It begins today with the account of the multiplication of the loaves. In the coming weeks, it continues with the famous discourse on the bread of life, delivered by Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum.
In interpreting this chapter, one can make the mistake of assuming that it deals with the Eucharist from beginning to end. This should be avoided so as not to miss the richness of the message of each passage. The theme of the Eucharist accompanies the entire discourse in the background but is only introduced explicitly at the end.
Of all the signs performed by Jesus, none is recounted as many times as the multiplication of the loaves. All evangelists report it at least once, Matthew and Mark even twice, so in all, it is reported six times.
Why was so much importance given to this fact in the early church? Because it was a startling, remarkable fact because it greatly impressed a people accustomed to eating only once a day. True, the chronic hunger of the Israelites can explain in part, but not all the interest in this episode. Jesus performed more extraordinary miracles that are narrated only once. Why is there so much emphasis on the loaves?
Today we are offered the version of the episode composed by John, different, in many details, from the others. We will not dwell on these differences, nor will we strive to establish what may have happened; instead, we will immediately immerse ourselves in the message and attempt to highlight it in every important detail of the narrative.
Let us begin with an important observation: the term 'multiplication' is not used in the text; we use it in the title, which is not inspired, of the evangelical passages, but the Gospel speaks only of the loaves and fishes being shared, of their distribution, of the result—everyone received "as much as they wanted"—and of the collection, in twelve baskets, of the leftover loaves, a sign of food that will never run out. That is all. The central message of the story, therefore, is not to be sought in multiplication but sharing.
We are affected by the urge to multiply all that is material: money, health, years of life, friendships, successes and, when we feel unable to multiply, we call on God to do it for us. But the urge to multiply is a syndrome of death; it comes from the fear of death and failure; it is a sign of lack of faith. With his gesture, the problem to which he intends to answer is that of hunger, material hunger, not spiritual hunger. The issue of hunger in the world exists, and we would like him to solve it with multiplications; Jesus instead follows another logic, a logic that does not allow us to remain in denial, that involves and co-responsibility.
The story begins with a chronological indication: "The Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near" (v. 4). This is not a piece of information but a theological framework that highlights the meaning of the episode. John wants it to be read from the perspective of the great feast of Israel's liberation from slavery in Egypt.
The parallelism between the multiplication of the loaves and the events of the exodus is so vital that the evangelist emphasizes it repeatedly: Jesus, like Moses, crosses the sea (v. 1) and, note, no boat appears, just like during the exodus; like Moses, Jesus is accompanied by numerous people and wins the trust of the crowds by performing great signs (v. 2). Twice (vv. 3.15), he goes up the mountain and sits with his disciples, just like Moses, who often went up the mountain and instructed his people. During the exodus, Moses gave the manna, and, like him, Jesus feeds those who follow him. Finally, in v. 14, we note that the crowd acclaims him as "the prophet who is to come into the world." This is an explicit reference to God's prophecy to Moses: "I shall raise a prophet from their midst, one of their brothers, who will be like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them all that I command" (Deut 18:18).
All these references are meant to present Jesus as the new Moses who begins, with humanity, a new exodus, a passage from slavery to freedom, from an unbearable and inhuman condition to true life. The goal of Moses' journey was the land of Canaan; that of Jesus is the true promised land, the kingdom of God, the kingdom in which—as the prophets announced—all will have abundant and free food (Is 25:6).
It is not a question of paradise, of the afterlife, but, above all, of the here and now. Indeed, the kingdom of God will have its fulfillment at the end of time, but the sign performed by Jesus indicates that the new society, the one in which all are offered the possibility of living according to the Creator's plan, the one in which all can have sufficient means to satisfy their basic needs, must begin here and now.
But is it possible to create it? Is it conceivable that the resources of this world will be enough to feed everyone and more? The doubts expressed frankly and lucidly by the apostles mirror our perplexities. In the Mishna, it is written that to satisfy the daily needs of a poor person, 1/12 a denar is needed. Philip makes a quick calculation: with 200 denarii, one can prepare 4800 half-rations (v. 7). But where to find so much money and so much bread?
In the Gospel of Luke, the Twelve make another proposal, very realistic and acceptable: "Dismiss the crowds so that they may go to the villages and surrounding countryside to stay and find food" (Lk 9:12). In other words: this is a problem that does not concern faith; people come to us to pray, meditate, listen to sermons; as for bread, everyone must make do as he or she can. It is the idea, widespread even today, that there are two distinct and non-communicating spheres: the kingdom of God on the one hand and material life on the other.
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, intervenes: "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish," then, as one who has realized he made an observation devoid of any practical sense, immediately adds: "But what is this to so many people?" (v. 9). Food is scarce and the multitude immense. Faced with a situation two hundred times less complicated, Elisha's servant had had the identical reaction, "How to put this in front of so many people?"
Through an ingenious dialogue, Jesus brought out the strategies dictated by people's wisdom to solve world hunger, systems that are ours, and that the evangelist has skillfully placed on the lips of the apostles.
The conclusion is: there is no solution; there are too many mouths to feed and too few resources, and even the doubt arises that creation has not been perfectly successful. The best that can be achieved in this world is a good social assistance organization, but it is unthinkable that misery can be defeated.
It is at this point that Jesus proposes his solution: "Make them sit down" (v. 10). In this way, the idea that the kingdom of God takes place in a sphere separated from concrete reality is discarded. The word of Christ is destined to be a social leaven, to transform the whole world and the whole person.
The table on which the banquet is set is original. The crowd is invited to lie down on the green grass of a meadow. "There was much grass there" (v. 10)—the evangelist notes—and this detail, apparently marginal and superfluous, is significant because it recalls, in a straightforward way, the words of the psalm: "The Lord is my shepherd... in pastures of fresh grass he makes me rest" (Ps 23:1-2). If Jesus makes his sheep sit "in green grass," it means that he is the shepherd announced by the prophets, it means that the banquet of the kingdom of God has been inaugurated (Is 25:6), that the new world has come about, the world in which no one will have to fight for food anymore because there will be plenty for everyone.
How will this new world be built? Jesus indicates what his proposal is by making a gesture: he takes the bread that has been offered, he distributes it, and the miracle happens, realized by the faith in his word that is an invitation to share, to renounce to possess, and to keep for oneself.
John is the only evangelist who notes that the one who made available to all the little food he had was a child and that his bread was barley (v. 9), the food of the poor. The detail of the child is unrealistic because, as we know, children are the first to consume provisions; it is, therefore, unrealistic that, among so many people, a child and only a child should have kept the snack. The symbolic value of the detail is evident: in the Gospel, the child is the model of the disciple; those who wish to enter the kingdom of heaven must become like children (Mk 10:15).
Now the message is clear: the child, impoverished, is the disciple called to make available to his brothers and sisters all that he possesses. This is the great proposal; this is the key to the miracle! All it takes is for people to put aside their selfishness, to overcome their desire to possess "which is the root of all evil" (1 Tim 6:10), to accept the logic of the Kingdom and to make available to their brothers and sisters, without reserve, all that they have at their disposal. The miracle happens: everyone is fed, and there is more.
I mentioned that John in chapter 6 does not deal with the Eucharist from the beginning. The theme of today's passage is the sharing of goods, and a spiritualistic interpretation should be avoided; however, one cannot help but notice that the story has Eucharistic connotations. In the description of Jesus' gestures—"Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who sat down" (v. 11)—there is an obvious reference to the words of the institution of the Eucharist (Mk 14:22). This is John's way of reminding his and our communities that the problem of material bread is closely linked to the celebration of the Eucharist. It would be a contradiction to break the Eucharistic bread together and not share the material bread.
