17th Sunday B

Welcome to our Bible
Study
17th
Sunday in the Ordinary Time B
26 July 2015
In preparation for this Sunday’s liturgy
As aid in focusing our homilies and sharing
Prepared by Fr. Cielo R. Almazan, OFM
Fil-Mission Sunday

1st
reading: 2 Kings 4:42-44
 42 A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing
the man of God twenty barley loaves made
from the first fruits, and fresh grain in the ear.
"Give it to the people to eat," Elisha said. 43
But his servant objected, "How can I set this
before a hundred men?" "Give it to the people
to eat," Elisha insisted. "For thus says the
LORD, 'They shall eat and there shall be some
left over.'" 44 And when they had eaten, there
was some left over, as the LORD had said.
The focus is on feeding a hungry throng.

Textual Context of 2 Kings 4:42-44
 Part I Reign of Solomon (1 Kgs1,1—11,43)
 Part II Judah and Israel to Ahab (1 Kgs 12,1—16,34)
 Part III Stories of the Prophets (1 Kgs 17,1-22,54)
 Part IV The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah (2 Kgs
1,1—17,41)
 Part V The Kingdom of Judah after 721 BC (2 Kgs
18,1--25,30)
Text without context is pretext.

1st
 42 A man came from
Baal-shalishah
bringing the man of
God twenty barley
loaves made from
the first fruits, and
fresh grain in the ear.
"Give it to the people
to eat," Elisha said.
43 But his servant
objected, "How can I
set this before a
hundred men?" "Give
it to the people to
eat," Elisha insisted.
"For thus says the
LORD, 'They shall
eat and there shall
be some left over.'"
44 And when they
had eaten, there was
some left over, as
the LORD had said.
Commentary
 Immediate Textual Context: It is part of the
stories of the miracles of Elisha. (Widow’s
Oil, Shunammite woman’s son, Poisoned
Stew – Multiplication of Bread – Curing of
Naaman’s Leprosy, Iron axehead (2 Kgs 4,1
—6,7)
 Historical context: Elisha prophesied after
the time of Elijah, during the time of Jehu in
the Northern Kingdom (84-815 BC)
 In v.42 an unnamed man brings to the man
of God 20 barley loaves.
 This man of God is Elisha.
 A prophet can be called “man of God.”
 V.42 specifies where the barley loaves come
from: first fruits and fresh grain…
 Elisha commands the man to feed the
people.

1st
 42 A man came from
Baal-shalishah
bringing the man of
God twenty barley
loaves made from
the first fruits, and
fresh grain in the ear.
"Give it to the people
to eat," Elisha said.
43 But his servant
objected, "How can I
set this before a
hundred men?" "Give
it to the people to
eat," Elisha insisted.
"For thus says the
LORD, 'They shall
eat and there shall
be some left over.'"
44 And when they
had eaten, there was
some left over, as
the LORD had said.
 V.43 indicates that the man is
his servant.
 His servant’s reaction: it is not
enough for a hundred men.
 In v.43, Elisha insists that the
man should feed them.
 Elisha banks on God’s
promise.
 There will be enough and left-
over.
 V.44 is the fulfillment of the
prediction of Elisha.

Reflections on the 1st
reading
 God takes care of his people in times of
need. Only that we should listen to his
voice: distribute what is available.
 God’s power goes beyond our
mathematical calculations.
 God can make miracles if we believe in
his word and cooperate with his power,
and if we share our available resources
and do not keep them for ourselves (in
the guise of future use).

Reflections, con’t
 Elisha is a model of a good leader. He does not
listen to pessimists.
 The unnamed man is a symbol of a worried
manager / a technocrat, who is immobilized to
help because of his calculated moves. The
technocrat must remember that he is just a
servant of the leader. He must let the leader
decide for the community. He sees more.
 God works in this manner.
 How many of us are paralyzed to help because
we fear there might not be enough?

Responsorial Ps 145:10-11. 15-16. 17-18
 R. (cf. 16) The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our
needs.
 10 Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,
and let your faithful ones bless you.
11 Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might.
 15 The eyes of all look hopefully to you,
and you give them their food in due season;
16 you open your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
 17 The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
18 The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.

Responsorial Ps 145:10-11. 15-16. 17-18
 R. (cf. 16) The hand of the
Lord feeds us; he answers
all our needs.
 10 Let all your works give
you thanks, O LORD, and
let your faithful ones bless
you.
11 Let them discourse of
the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might.
 15 The eyes of all look
hopefully to you, and you
give them their food in due
season;
16 you open your hand
and satisfy the desire of
every living thing.
 17 The LORD is just in all
his ways and holy in all his
works.
18 The LORD is near to all
who call upon him, to all
who call upon him in truth.
Commentary
 The responsorial psalm affirms God as a
provider.
 In vv.10-11, the psalmist prays that all
God’s creatures and the faithful people
recognize his goodness and speak of his
glory and might.
 In v.15, the psalmist states the prayerful
stance of those who need him and
affirms God’s response in due time.
 In v.16, the psalmist asks God to be
generous to all living creatures and to fill
their desires.
 In v.17, the psalmist affirms that God is
just, and holy in everything he does.
 In v.18, the psalmist expresses his belief
that God is close to those who pray and
live in truth.

Reflections on the Psalm
 God is a provident God.
 God is the source of our sustenance.
 Everything that satisfies our being comes from
God.
 He takes care of us, his people, and other living
creatures.
 God extends his hand to us, who seek and pray
to him in justice and truth.
 Do you seek him?

2nd
reading Ephesians 4:1-6
 1 I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to
live in a manner worthy of the call you have
received, 2 with all humility and gentleness,
with patience, bearing with one another through
love, 3 striving to preserve the unity of the spirit
through the bond of peace: 4 one body and
one Spirit, as you were also called to the one
hope of your call; 5 one Lord, one faith, one
baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is
over all and through all and in all.
The focus is on the unity of Christians.

Textual Context of Ephesians 4,1-6:
OUTLINE
1. Opening Address (1:1-2)
2. Doctrinal Exposition (1:3-3:21)
A. Divine Origin of the Church (1:3-14)
B. Prayer for the Church (1:15-23)
C. Building Up the Church (2:1-22)
D. Mystery of the Church (3:1-13)
E. Prayer for the Church (3:14-21)
3. Moral Exhortation (4:1-6:20)
A. Unity of the Church (4:1-16)
B. Moral Maturity in the Church (4:17-5:20)
C. Household Life in the Church (5:21-6:9)
D. Spiritual Warfare in the Church (6:10-20)
4. Closing Farewell (6:21-24)

2nd
 1 I, then, a prisoner
for the Lord, urge you
to live in a manner
worthy of the call you
have received, 2
with all humility and
gentleness, with
patience, bearing
with one another
through love, 3
striving to preserve
the unity of the spirit
through the bond of
peace: 4 one body
and one Spirit, as
you were also called
to the one hope of
your call; 5 one
Lord, one faith, one
baptism; 6 one God
and Father of all,
who is over all and
through all and in all.
Commentary
 Textual Context: In between Eph 3,1-
20 (Commission to Preach God’s
Word) and 4,7-16 (Diversity of Gifts).
 Historical Context: The Letter might
have been written by a disciple of Paul
for the Christians in Ephesus living
around 80-100 AD. The concept of the
Church here in Ephesians and other
teachings puts the Letter at this later
date, not during the time of Paul
himself.
 In v.1, the author (Paul!) now
imprisoned, urges his fellow Christians
to live according to their calling.
 The author is giving last minute
instructions, for he will soon die.

2nd
 1 I, then, a prisoner for
the Lord, urge you to
live in a manner worthy
of the call you have
received, 2 with all
humility and
gentleness, with
patience, bearing with
one another through
love, 3 striving to
preserve the unity of
the spirit through the
bond of peace: 4 one
body and one Spirit, as
you were also called to
the one hope of your
call; 5 one Lord, one
faith, one baptism; 6
one God and Father of
all, who is over all and
Commentary
 Vv.2-3 enumerate what each Christian
should display:
 Humility (ability to calmly accept trials and
insults, corrections)
 Gentleness (treating with kindness rough
people or old or unknown people)
 Patience (not running away or withdrawing,
staying with others in times of difficulties and
contradictions)
 Bearing with one another through love
(tolerating, giving allowance to those who
are almost “abusing.”
 Striving to preserve unity in the spirit
 The bond of peace in v.3 is a kind of
contract (written or unwritten) to do
everything to preserve peace and unity. It is
making necessary sacrifices.

2nd
 1 I, then, a prisoner
for the Lord, urge you
to live in a manner
worthy of the call you
have received, 2 with
all humility and
gentleness, with
patience, bearing with
one another through
love, 3 striving to
preserve the unity of
the spirit through the
bond of peace: 4 one
body and one Spirit,
as you were also
called to the one
hope of your call; 5
one Lord, one faith,
one baptism; 6 one
God and Father of all,
who is over all and
 Vv.4-6 enumerate the reasons
why we should live in unity:
 Christians are one body and
one spirit (the Church).
 Christians are called to one
hope.
 Christians have one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one
God and Father.
 The frequent mention of the
word “one” should mean
something to us.

Reflections on the 2nd
reading
 The author exhorts us, Christians, to live life
worthy of our calling.
 Christian vocation demands certain qualities
and behaviors (humble, gentle, patient, etc.).
 We, Christians, living in community are asked
to preserve unity.
 There are a thousand reasons to be united.
 Unity reflects the oneness and integrity of God.
 Creating divisions, cliche, elitist groups, or
exclusivism in our community runs counter to
the call for unity.
 It is un-Christian.

Gospel Reading: John 6:1-15
Setting
 1 Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (of
Tiberias). 2 A large crowd followed him, because
they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.
3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat
down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish feast of
Passover was near.
Philip tested and his questioning
 5 When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large
crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where
can we buy enough food for them to eat?" 6 He
said this to test him, because he himself knew what
he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, "Two
hundred days' wages worth of food would not be
enough for each of them to have a little (bit)."
The focus is on feeding.

 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of
Simon Peter, said to him, 9 "There is a boy here
who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what
good are these for so many?" 10 Jesus said,
"Have the people recline." Now there was a great
deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined,
about five thousand in number. 11 Then Jesus
took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them
to those who were reclining, and also as much of
the fish as they wanted.

 12 When they had had their fill, he said to his
disciples, "Gather the fragments left over, so
that nothing will be wasted." 13 So they
collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets
with fragments from the five barley loaves that
had been more than they could eat. 14 When
the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
"This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to
come into the world." 15 Since Jesus knew that
they were going to come and carry him off to
make him king, he withdrew again to the
mountain alone.

Textual Context of John 6:1-15
 Part One – Book of Signs (Jn 2-12)
 Part Two – Book of Glory (Jn 13-20)
 Our passage comes in between the healing of the
man from Bethsaida, life-giving word, testimony of
the Father (5,1-47) and Jesus’ Walking on Water and
later the Bread of Life (6,16-71).
 The gospel was written in between 90-100 AD.

Setting
 1 Jesus went across the Sea
of Galilee (of Tiberias). 2 A
large crowd followed him,
because they saw the signs
he was performing on the
sick. 3 Jesus went up on the
mountain, and there he sat
down with his disciples. 4
The Jewish feast of Passover
was near.
Philip tested and his
questioning
 5 When Jesus raised his eyes
and saw that a large crowd
was coming to him, he said to
Philip, "Where can we buy
enough food for them to eat?"
6 He said this to test him,
because he himself knew
what he was going to do. 7
Philip answered him, "Two
hundred days' wages worth of
food would not be enough for
each of them to have a little
(bit)."
Commentary
 In v.1, Jesus goes back to Galilee (from
Jerusalem).
 V.2 indicates that many people follow him.
 It states the reason why: they see the
signs (miracles).
 V.3 indicates Jesus going up the
mountain, in contrast to the sea level.
 He sits with his disciples (to rest, or to teach
them).
 V.4 mentions the most important Jewish
feast.
 In v.5, Jesus sees the large crowd coming
to him and he is concerned about feeding
them. So he asks Philip where they can
buy food.
 V.6 indicates Jesus’ purpose: to test
Philip.
 In v.7, Philip presents his calculation: not
enough money to buy food

Andrew’s information
and questioning
 8 One of his
disciples, Andrew, the
brother of Simon
Peter, said to him, 9
"There is a boy here
who has five barley
loaves and two fish;
but what good are
these for so many?"
 In vv.8-9, another apostle
complains about the scarcity of
food supply.

Jesus performs miracle
 10 Jesus said, "Have the
people recline." Now there
was a great deal of grass
in that place. So the men
reclined, about five
thousand in number. 11
Then Jesus took the
loaves, gave thanks, and
distributed them to those
who were reclining, and
also as much of the fish as
they wanted. 12 When
they had had their fill, he
said to his disciples,
"Gather the fragments left
over, so that nothing will be
wasted." 13 So they
collected them, and filled
twelve wicker baskets with
fragments from the five
barley loaves that had
been more than they could
eat.
 In v.10, Jesus asks them to
recline (a posture to rest)
 V.11 echoes the eucharistic
formula at the Last Supper,
which was done during the
Jewish Passover.
 It also says that there is more
than enough.
 In v.12, after eating a good
amount, Jesus asks his
disciples to gather left-overs.
 Jesus does not want waste.
 In v.13, the disciples obey and
fill twelve baskets of left-overs.
It recalls the barley loaves.

People’s response
 14 When the people
saw the sign he had
done, they said,
"This is truly the
Prophet, the one
who is to come into
the world."
Jesus’ reaction
 15 Since Jesus
knew that they were
going to come and
carry him off to
make him king, he
withdrew again to
the mountain alone.
 In v.14, people understand the
meaning of the sign (miracle).
They see Jesus as a prophet,
promised by God.
 In v.15, Jesus disagrees with
their plan to make him (an
earthly) king.
 Do the people know what they
want to do with Jesus?

Reflections on the gospel
 Like Jesus, we are here to serve the needs of
humanity, no matter how numerous they are.
 We can start with the little that we have.
 With God’s assistance, everyone will be
satisfied.
 We will not run out of supply, if we keep on
sharing and distributing food to the hungry.
 There will be more than enough.
 Take note: Jesus does not want food to be
wasted or hoarded.

Tying the 3 readings and the Psalm
 Elisha feeds the hungry crowd with a
meager resource. (1st
reading)
 The psalm praises God’s providence (with
abundant resource).
 The author of the Ephesians encourages
Christians to preserve unity. There is no
explicit remark about food. Let us imagine
that one way to preserve unity is to make
food available for everyone. (2nd
reading)
 Jesus feeds the hungry throng with a
meager resource. (gospel)

How to develop your homily / sharing
 Begin by talking about your experience (or other
people’s experience) of hunger (due to poverty, no work, low
salary, etc.).
 You may talk about how many people are hungry.
 You can give your own analysis.
 Why are the majority of the people hungry?
 Due to injustices
 Due to laziness
 Due to bad luck
 Due to poor health
 Due to wars

 Then talk about God’s will: God does not will that one
gets hungry.
 Something must be done.
 In the 1st
reading, Elisha commanders a man to
cooperate with his plan laid out by God.
 The little food they have must be shared by everyone.
 It must not be kept by just one.
 We, Christians, must believe that in sharing, no one will
lack anything.

 The 2nd
reading promotes unity among
Christians.
 We imitate our origin: the one God.
 Unity implies egalitarianism or justice and just
distribution of goods.
 If there is unity, no one goes hungry.

 In the gospel Jesus challenges the
imagination of the disciples to feed the
people.
 Mission is not just preaching God’s word,
but also sharing the little resource.
 The meal here clearly refers to the
eucharistic meal.
 Man’s spirit must be satisfied, not only his
hungry stomach.

 The psalm leads us to acknowledge God as the
source of all good things.
 God is the source of our satisfaction, bodily and
spiritually.
 God is a beneficient God, benevolent God.

 We may not be wonder workers like Elisha and
Jesus; but our communities are urged to take
care of the hungry.
 Here enters social justice. Christians should not
allow any one to go hungry.
 They must be on the look out for those who
have nothing.
 Parishioners should support the feeding
programs and livelihood projects.

 In the eucharist, Jesus comes to us once
again to feed us with his own body and
blood in the form of bread and wine.
 The eucharist challenges us to share also
ourselves to others, no matter how poor
we are.

Our Context of Sin and Grace
 Hunger, famine
 No food security
 No potable water
 Wasteful living
 Food blockage
 Land conversion from
agricultural to fuel
plantation
 Hoarding
 Research on food
production
 Food security
 Healthy eating habits
 Potable water
 Frequent reception of
the Eucharist
 Satisfied by the Word of
God and the Eucharist
 Inspiring Eucharistic
celebrations

Suggested songs
 Sharing, communion by Gene Pastidio, OFM
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1ij6D6EyeI
 There is One Lord
 Isang Pananampalataya, recessional, by Hontiveros
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iubNVZpQpNE

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