Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The leftovers of grace
Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. 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?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little (bit).” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” …. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. 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. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets. Jn 6,3-13
As our year pass by and we get closer to our destination, we become more and more aware of the privilege we have had by meeting every morning around the dining table to share our daily bread and God’s word We have fed both body and spirit at the same time, giving this habit the sense of the sacramental breaking of the bread, in the two forms that we find before us every day. Before starting the collection of these reflections, which have formed over time among us and risked falling into oblivion, we asked Father Raniero whether he thought it worth the while, and he answered us: “It is something you must absolutely do: they are the twelve baskets of leftovers from the miracle of the loaves”. We immediately put to work with the intention to prevent moments of grace which have accompanied our lives from meeting an inglorious end, the same way we prefer to burn old holy cards in the fireplace instead of throwing them away. Over time, however, by making public these thoughts at www.vangeloacolazione.it, or by reading them again among us, we realized that they are relevant: they still have the fragrance of freshly baked bread. Many people have thanked us, in different ways, because these leftovers can still be useful for those who seek the truth, as the Canaanite woman, who approaches Jesus so that he can set her daughter free from a devil, says: “But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed from that hour” (Mt 15,25-28). What is evangelization, indeed, if not sharing the grace that comes to us every day with the daily bread ?…. Give us, oh Lord, the joy of sharing your bread and your word.