Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B-2018

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Little, but More than Enough for Everyone

Jesus feeds us. He wants us to do for others what he does for us, giving him the little we have, so that we all may have our fill.

The disciples think that to answer for those who have nothing to eat means not to answer for them at all. That is because, according to Matthew, Mark and Luke, the disciples ask Jesus to send the crowd away. In that way, the people can buy themselves something to eat. Admitting they have little, the disciples, in effect, are saying, “Every man for himself.”

Such way of thinking is not wholly odd. It is the thinking of realists like Philip and Andrew, in the gospel of John. Philip acknowledges that two hundred days’ wages worth of food will not be enough. Andrew, for his part, has good news and bad news. The good news: a boy has five barley loaves and two fish. And the bad news: what they have is too little for so many.

Realists also are those who think that efforts to root out poverty matter little. They want to make us aware of the reality that we will always have the poor with us. But what Jesus says is a prediction of his death, not of a permanent underclass (see D. Hamm). In fact, the account in original Greek uses the present tense, “have,” not “will have,” as in most English translations.

Jesus, of course, sends us back to Dt 15, 11 that also commands that we open our hand to our needy kinsman. One, then, cannot conclude from this passage that helping the poor is of little value.

Though he recognizes that he and his followers have little, Jesus dismisses the easy solution.

In the Synoptic accounts, Jesus tells those who want to send the crowd away, “Give them some food yourselves.” And he asks, in the gospel of John (Revised Standard Version), “How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” There is a suggestion, yes, that he and his group are happy with having little. But it is clear, too, that he is testing Philip; Jesus knows exactly what to do.

That is to say, he does not completely settle for being realistic. He shows those who are present something they know little about. He gives them a glimpse of the ideal that better than hoarding is sharing. The multiplication of a poor boy’s contribution is a sign of the ideal and of the Eucharist.

And great and important contributions, like the “good work in Poland,” imply faithfulness in “more humble beginnings” and in little matters (SV.EN II:351; SV.EN VII:474).

Father of all, make us, as your good children, share the little we have with our needy brothers and sisters. May we put into practice Jesus’ teaching, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” May we, moreover, see to it that nothing goes to waste.


29 July 2018

17th Sunday in O.T. (B)

2 Kgs 4, 42-44; Eph 4, 1-6; Jn 6, 1-15


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA

Poco, pero más que suficiente para todos

Jesús nos alimenta. Quiere que hagamos con otros lo que él hace con nosotros, entregándole lo poco que tenemos, para que nos saciemos todos.

Piensan los discípulos que ser responsable de quienes no tienen nada de comer significa no ser responsable de ellos para nada. Es que, según Mateo, Marcos y Lucas, los discípulos piden a Jesús que despida a la multitud. Así podrá la gente comprarse algo de comer. Dicen efectivamente los discípulos, admitiendo que poco tienen: «Sálvese quien pueda».

Tal modo de pensar no resulta curioso del todo. Es de los realistas como Felipe y Andrés, en el evangelio de Juan. Reconoce Felipe que doscientos denarios de pan no bastan. Andrés, por su parte, tiene una noticia buena y otra mala. La buena: un muchacho tiene cinco panes de cebada y un par de peces. Y la mala, por supuesto: lo que hay es tan poco para tantos.

Son realistas también los que creen que poco importa esforzarse uno por erradicar la pobreza. Quieren que tomemos conciencia de la realidad de que a los pobres los tenemos siempre con nosotros. Pero lo que dice Jesús es una predicción de su muerte, no de una clase marginada permanente (véase D. Hamm). De hecho, no se usa el tiempo futuro: «los tendréis …», sino el tiempo presente: «los tenéis …».

Jesús nos remite, desde luego, a Dt 15, 11, que también nos manda abrir nuestra mano al hermano necesitado. De ninguna manera, pues, se puede concluir del texto que cuenta poco la ayuda que se da a los pobres.

Aun reconociendo lo poco que él y sus seguidores tienen, descarta Jesús la solución fácil.

En los relatos sinópticos, les dice Jesús a los que quieren dispedir a la multidud: «Dadles vosotros de comer». Y pregunta, en el evangelio de Juan: «¿Con qué compraremos panes para que coman estos?». Así se da a entender, sí, que él y su grupo se contentan con tener poco. Con todo, se nos aclara que la pregunta sirve para tentar a Felipe; bien sabe Jesús qué hacer.

Es decir, no se conforma él con ser totalmente realista. A todos los presentes les enseña algo poco conocido. Les da un vislumbre del ideal de que es mejor compartir que acaparar. Signo del ideal y de la Eucaristía es la multiplicación de lo aportado por un muchacho pobre.

Y aportaciones grandes e importantes, como la «obra buena en Polonia», suponen la fidelidad en «los comienzos más humildes» y en lo poco (SV.ES II:263; SV.ES VII:392).

Padre de todos, haz que, como buenos hijos tuyos, compartamos con nuestros hermanos necesitados lo poco que tenemos. Ojalá pongamos en práctica la enseñanza de Jesús: «Más dichoso el que da que el que recibe». Que procuremos además que nada se desperdicie.


29 Julio 2018

17º Domingo de T.O. (B)

2 Re 4, 42-44; Ef 4, 1-6; Jn 6, 1-15