Vol. 36 No. 42                                                                 Cycle B                           17th SUNDAY OF THE YEAR              Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? ENTRANCE ANTIPHON God is in his holy dwelling; he will give a home to the lonely, he gives power and strength to his people. PENITENTIAL RITE Jesus asked the disciples to feed the large crowd in order to test them. Through today’s liturgy, he challenges us to examine our Christian compassion and care for the needy, especially the hungry people around us. Let us today ask the Lord for his mercy and pardon for our failure in sharing our resources with the poor and the needy. I confess... Glory to God... OPENING PRAYER Let us pray: God our Father and protector, without you nothing is holy, nothing has value. Guide us to everlasting life by helping us to use wisely the blessings you have given to the world. We ask this… FIRST READING (Elisha, the man of God feeds 100 people with 20 loaves. They all ate and had some left over. God’s hand is instrumental in working this miracle.) A reading from the second Book of the Kings (4:42-44) A man came from Baalshalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.” But his servant said, “How am I to set this before a hundred men?” So he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left’.” So he set it before them. And they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the Lord. This is the Word of the Lord PSALM (144) Response: You open wide your hand, O Lord, and grant our desires. All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord, and your friends shall repeat their blessing. They shall speak of the glory of your reign and declare your might, O God. R./ The eyes of all creatures look to you and you give them their food in due time. You open wide your hand, grant the desires of all who live. R./ The Lord is just in all his ways and loving in all his deeds. He is close to all who call him, who call on him from their hearts. R./ SECOND READING (Paul, the prisoner of God, asks the people to live a life worthy of their calling, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.) A reading from the Letter of St Paul to the Ephesians (4:1-6) I, Paul, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all. This is the Word of the Lord ACCLAMATION (Jn 14:6) Alleluia! Alleluia! I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. Alleluia! GOSPEL (Jesus performs the miracle of multiplication of bread to teach us that God cares for us and we need to be compassionate, loving, caring and generous.) A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St John (6:1-15) Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a multitude followed him, because they saw the signs which he did on those who were diseased. Jesus went up into the hills, and there sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus said to Philip, “How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?” Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place; so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign which he had done, they said, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the hills by himself. This is the Gospel of the Lord I believe in God,/the Father almighty,/ Creator of heaven and earth./ I believe in Jesus Christ,/his only Son, our Lord./ He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit/ and born of the Virgin Mary./He suffered under Pontius Pilate,/was crucified, died, and was buried./He descended to the dead./On the third day he rose again./He ascended into heaven,/and is seated at the right hand of the Father./He will come again to judge the living and the dead./I believe in the Holy Spirit,/the holy catholic Church,/the communion of saints,/the forgiveness of sins,/the resurrection of the body,/and the life everlasting./ Amen. PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL Cel: Dear brothers and sisters, let us now pray for the needs of each of us, of our community and of our world, knowing that we have a loving, caring and compassionate God. Response: Lord, we trust in your love. 1. We pray for the Church which is the body of Christ. May she always shine in the world as a sacrament of God’s special love and care for the poor and the needy. R./ 2. We pray for the Pope, Bishops, priests, deacons and religious men and women, may they be living witnesses of God’s providential love and compassionate sharing. R./ 3. We pray for all those who are blessed with wealth. May they know that God alone is the source of all riches and gifts which are entrusted to them for sharing with the needy and the less fortunate ones in this world. R./ 4. We pray for those suffering from famine, sickness, violence and calamities. May the healing and compassionate presence of the Lord and Christian communities all over the world bring them human dignity, courage and hope for living. R./ (Pray for local and personal needs) Cel: Lord, we thank you for your spiritual and material blessings. Give us compassionate and generous hearts to share what have with the needy so that all your children may be blessed with enough to feed on and live in human dignity and freedom. We make this... PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS Lord, receive these offerings chosen from your many gifts. May these mysteries make us holy and lead us to eternal joy. Grant this… PREFACE (P 30) Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord. Out of love for sinful humanity, he humbled himself to be born of the Virgin. By suffering on the cross he freed us from unending death, and by rising from the dead he gave us eternal life. And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven we proclaim your glory and join in their unending hymn of praise: All: Holy, holy, holy... COMMUNION ANTIPHON O, bless the Lord, my soul, and remember all his kindness. PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION Lord, we receive the sacrament which celebrates the memory of the death and resurrection of Christ your Son. May this gift bring us closer to our eternal salvation. We ask this…   Liturgy & Life The people who followed Jesus in their enthusiasm had not rested or eaten for quite some time now. They are in a far away deserted place where there was no possibility to get any food. Besides, it was an impossible situation as there was no one so rich enough as to buy food for such a large crowd. It was soon getting dark. Many might have begun to curse their decision to come such a distance without carrying food with them. Thus there was this huge crisis situation. Jesus is aware of the crisis and notices their need. He feels their hunger and their frustration. He decides to act. Perhaps this was the moment to let these people know that the God whom he preaches to them is a God of love and compassion. Thus his question to Philip comes straight from his heart: “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” John the evangelist, in his characteristic style, tells that he asked this question to test him. He knew what he was going to do. The miracle unfolds. People are fed and satisfied. They gather up the left over in 12 baskets! Poverty and hunger, famine and malnourish-ment are huge problems the world faces today. At the face of such cruel and hopeless reality, like Philip, we express our inability and helplessness: “What can I do at such an insurmountable problem? After all I am not responsible for the world’s hunger and poverty. Why did God create the poor? Even if I do something, what difference is it going to make?” But today’s miracle teaches us two important lessons: 1. God sees and is concerned about the hunger and famine in this world. When everyone was cursing and complaining about the crisis situation in that deserted place, Jesus alone thought of doing something practical. When the disciples expressed their helplessness, he challenged them to make the people sit down and feed them with food. He sees our sufferings and acts on it. He provides for our needs. 2. God wants each of us to cooperate with him in wiping out this menace. He needs our generous and compassionate hands to bring solace to the hungry and needy people. First he challenged Philip to think about feeding the people. But the miracle of the multiplication unfolded only when the little boy with five barley loaves and two fish brought what he had and gave to Jesus. Then he again asked his disciples to make people sit down, feed them, and gather the left over. At every stage Jesus demands the helping hands and generous hearts of his collaborators. Today we are the collaborators in God’s hands to bring solace to others, especially the hungry people. God has created and continues to maintain this world with enough resources for all His children to feed on. However, the unequal distribution of resources is the villain. Like that little boy in today’s gospel, if all are sensitive enough to see the crisis and generous enough to open up and share their resources with the needy, no one in this world needs to go to bed hungry or walk half naked. We need not feel frustrated at the enormity of the problem as God is able to work a miracle even with the little we are able to share if it is shared with real love. Are we willing to take up this challenge as we go out of this Church today? “Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God.” – Bl. Teresa of Kolkata) —Fr Joe Eruppakkatt, ssp July/August 2009  READINGS OF THE WEEK  Psalter Week 1 27 Mon (G) Ex 32:15-24,30-34; Ps 105:19-20,21-22,23; Mt 13:31-35 28 Tue (W) St Alphonsa Muttathupadathu, vg (mem) Ex 33:7-11; 34:5b-9,28; Ps 102:6-7,8-9,10-11,12-13; Mk 13:36-43 29 Wed (W) St Martha (mem) 1 Jn 4:7-16; Ps 33:2-3,4-5,6-7,8-9,10-11; Jn 11:19-27 or Lk 10:38-42 30 Thu (G) Ex 40:16-21; 34-38; Ps 83:3,4,5-6a&8a,11; Mt 13:47-53 31 Fri (W) St Ignatius Loyola (mem) Lev 23:1,4-11,15-16,27,34b-37; Ps 80:3-4,5-6ab,10-11ab; Mt 13:54-58 1 Sat (W) St Alphonsus Liguori (mem) Lev 25:1,8-17; Ps 66:2-3,5,7-8ab; Mt 14:1-12