JESUS
THE SHARER: HOMILY FOR THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR (B)
BY REV. FR. BONIFACE
NKEM ANUSIEM PH.D
The
word sharer reminds me of my junior and senior Seminary days. During meals
someone from each table was expected to pick the pot of food from the pantry
and then share out to the members of his table. This exercise actually calls
for caution, right thinking and equity. This is because the sharer may fall
into the table fallacy of partial or biased sharing or worst still starving
someone out rightly. Actually to starve someone from a higher class to that of
the sharer is an offense with multiple consequences.
Beyond
food sharer in the Seminary, it is a good and worthwhile thing to share with
others, especially what one possesses. There are many things we can obviously
share with others; they could be tangible or physical (like materials things),
they could also be intangible (like moral and spiritual support).
Today
our Lord Jesus Christ is presented to us as a sharer; in fact he is the ideal
sharer, the sharer per excellence. Sharing summarizes why he came into our
context. He came to share not only the word of God with us, but also his total
self: “body, blood, soul and divinity”. Last Sunday we were told that our Lord
upon seeing the devastated crowd who came in search of him, set out immediately
to share the word of God with them and he did this at length because he taught
them many things (Mark 6:34).
The
gospel today from John (6:1-5) is actually a continuation of the event of last
Sunday. At the end of his sermon it was late and the people were clearly
famished from the long trek in search of him as well as the long but
interesting sermon on many things. The session over, the apostles were eager to
send the people away so that they could actually get a rest. Remember they were
still to get rest after their apostolic work last Sunday. They were not done
yet with work; Jesus asked Philip where they could buy bread to feed the
multitude. After the feeding with word of God, Jesus is now extending his care
from the soul to the body. This tells us that God has comprehensive care over
us. Remember His words in Psalm 27:10.
The
request made by Jesus to Philip in view of buying bread was like a difficult
and unrealizable task. This reminds us of his question earlier in the crowd:
“who touched my clothes” (Mark 5: 30). Philip gave a very straight and simple
answer it is impossible to get such supply above all we don’t have such amount
in the purse. Philip here sounded like the financial secretary, we know that
Judas kept the money anyway. However Jesus was trying to find out what Philip
would say because he already knew what he would do. Often when faced with some situations
in life, we behave like Philip. We say it is not possible, we claim and assume
that nothing can be done about the situation. Philip actually represents most
of us who cannot see beyond what human power and resources can do. We often
like Philip see fear where we ought to see faith.
But
in all these Jesus knew exactly what to do. In your life God knows exactly what
to do. In your challenges and hazels, God knows exactly what to do. Philip
thought that money can answer and address the situation, but this happened to
fall beyond the region of finance to the region of faith. It was at this point
that we saw a flicker of faith coming from Andrew. He said that he could see a
boy with five loaves of bread and two fish, but that will not be enough for the
crowd.
I
am particularly moved by Andrew’s statement. Andrew stands for hope, Andrew
stands for optimism, Andrew stands for positive challenge unto God. Andrew
understood the fact that God needs something from you before He came bring
about multiplication. Something has to go forth before something comes forth.
If you search the bible very well you will understand this underlying
principle. You must bring something before you can get a whole lot. In Exodus
Moses and Aaron had to bring something (their staff) for miracles to happen (Ex.4:3-4;
7:9,19;). In 1st Kings (17:12)
the widow had to bring her last oil and flour before she got the miracle of
abundance. In 2nd Kings (4:2)
the widow had to bring her last oil before she got the amazing “oil well” in
her room. In the First reading today too (2nd Kings 4:42-44) the
servants of Elisha had to bring some bread which he multiplied. Often times we
come with nothing while asking God to grant us increase. You sure must bring something
no matter how small it may be. Jesus had challenged us in Mark (11:22) that no
matter how small our faith could be, it is capable of moving mountains.
I
am moved also by Andrew as an INTRODUCER. That was his function throughout the
gospel. He introduced Simon Peter to Jesus from the gospel account of John of
their call to become apostles (Jn.1:40-42). When some Greeks came to look for
Jesus he was the one that took them to the Lord (Jn.12: 20-22). He did also
introduce the good news to the people of Asia Minor and Greece and was martyred
at Patras in Achea in Greece. Like Andrew we are called by virtue of our
baptism to become introducers of the good news to people. We are called to see
and introduce good things to others and not bad things. We know John to be the
one always staying close to the heart of the Lord but I believe that Andrew
knew more what was inside that heart.
Back
to the situation, Andrew practically challenged the Lord to multiply the five
loaves and two fish; a small boy’s lunch (may be for him and his siblings or
may be what he came to sell at the “religious rally”). One striking thing was
that the boy agreed to let go the five loaves of bread and two fish. He was
extremely altruistic and charitable. I wonder what was going on in his mind as
he was giving out all he had. How needful it is for us to let go especially
when we genuinely have and there is legitimate need. Yes, Jesus multiplied the
loaves of bread and the two fish, but this could only happen with the
disposition and good will of a small boy who was willing to give. The miracle
was performed by Jesus Christ but it was made readily possible by the small
boy. From the five loaves of bread and two fish a great multitude was able to
have dinner. From the benevolence of a small boy a great crowd went home
satisfied. Sometime ago in a Children mass while reflecting on this passage a
child asked me: “Fr! What happened to the remaining twelve baskets”. My answer
was spontaneous: “they were given to the small boy and his family”. Though we
were not told who took the remaining basket, but it is reasonable enough to
establish that the small boy was given the remaining basket or shared them with
the apostles who still had not eaten because they were busy sharing.
Sharing
is an expression of Love. When we hear that we are created in the image and
likeness of God (Genesis 1:26 ), we are simply being told that God gave us a
share of His being. When we hear that God loved the world so much that he gave
his son for our salvation, we are being told that God shared that which is so
precious with us. The kingdom of God is where we can be through an attitude of
sharing. Jesus shared the word of God, he shared bread and finally shared his
life so that we can live not just now but forever. If Jesus Christ is a sharer
of the things listed above and we are his followers, it follows then that we
should be sharers of his word, sharers of his life, sharers of our blessings
and material possessions.
According
to the Millennium Development Goals annual report more than 850 million people
go to bed every day without food and a child dies of hunger every 3 seconds
around the world. The question is this: “don’t we have food to share?”
Obviously there are many people out there who have so much to throw away and on
the other hand there are so many others you have nothing to eat. Our refuge
collection points boasts of loads of discarded food items and other commodities
while so many stomachs are starving. There is call on us today to reproduce the
caring and sharing Jesus and the small boy with five loaves of bread and two
fish. There is a clarion on us to reflect the faith and optimism of Andrew
while eschewing the “impossibility state-of-mind of Philip. Our world can be a
better place we decide to share
