Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time B
July 29, 2012
Reading I: 2 Kings 4:42-44
Responsorial Psalm: 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18
Reading II: Ephesians 4:1-6
Gospel: John 6:1-15
Another part of me, standing opposite, still wonders,
and in wondering arouses curiosity and a glimmer of hope.
What if The Origin is breaking through to life's new level we call consciousness and,
respectful of its priceless endowment of being free to choose its own path, is
inviting this intelligent life-form (us) to discover more than meets the eye or can be touched?
What if?
Is this scary?
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The great traditions of 'religion' go back to ancient times: for us a man called Abraham experienced a call and left his homeland in response. He was strangely tested, and from it learned the foundational truth, that God provides. Gen 22:14 Abraham named that place Yahweh-yireh; hence people today say, “On the mountain The Lord will provide.”
Later a man called Moses heard a voice coming from within a fire, and thought himself commissioned to lead his people out of captivity. Tell the Israelites: "I am" sent you!
As it turned out, escaping was the easy part. Wandering in strange, harsh desert country for nearly a life-time was another matter. He almost had a rebellion on his hands when they completely ran out of food, but somehow they were provided for. The people found something they could eat: it covered the ground like hoar frost in the early mornings. They had no idea what it was, but in their desperate need it was like bread from heaven.
This memory became a symbol of their deepest trust that "god" would provide.
Our grip on life is very tenuous. Any moment we can lose it. World-wide, whole populations are wiped out in nature's natural way or by human deviation.
It is no small matter to say: I believe that god provides!
Yet nothing else matters. The skeptical self that stands aside feels unfulfilled. The curious self that looks again and again, wondering, is reassured, yet hungry still.
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This is the backdrop of the miracle/sign that Jesus gave in feeding a crowd in a desert place. They recognised the sign, and thought he was the promised prophet, like Elisha of the first reading. But Jesus would have none of that, and escaped back into the mountain alone.
The story is only half-told yet, and it seems a pity not to read it all. The disciples set off to row back across the lake but the sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Far into the night they saw Jesus walking across the water, about to pass them by as if he had not seen their need. They called out, and all the gospels record his words: "I am. Do not be afraid."
"I am". That is how it is written in the original Greek, and there seems little doubt it is meant to echo back to that voice coming from within a fire. The gospel narrative tells that a few men in a boat on a stormy sea heard those words from Jesus. Trying to find the right expression now, I think it makes sense to say: In Jesus they heard and saw The Lord (god) made manifest. Perhaps that comes close to the intention of the writers.
"They wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading." The one who provides nourishment also provides safe passage: no mere prophet, the gospels tell us, but The Lord manifest in the mystery of this man Jesus. Do not be afraid - of anything.
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In the rest of Chapter 6 over coming Sundays we will go through the discourse which John fabricated, perhaps, as a way of making us curiously pick over these events. We might wonder why he could not tell it plainly, instead of in the strange and confusing to and fro of a dialogue that looks like a tangle of spaghetti. Perhaps the answer lies in the way the spirit stands back, inviting those who are hungry to come and sample the menu, with no intention of force-feeding those already satisfied. "I'm right, thanks." Hmm?