28 July 2024 – 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)

by Fr Oliver Tham

We are very familiar with the Gospel today, the 5 loaves and the 2 fish, because every year there is always a Gospel about it. At least a few times in a year.

So we know the plan of Jesus, that is not only to feed but to sit down with the people, eat with them, hear what they have to say and then Jesus doing his part. So that was his ministry with the 5,000.

But let us look a little differently when we talk about 5 loaves, 2 fish. Let us look at the 5 loaves.

Now in our understanding today when we talk about a loaf of bread, it is this size. Am I right? Sometimes you have the jumbo size which is a bit bigger. That is our understanding of a loaf of bread.

But during that time, it would be a bit different. Their loaf of bread is round, probably not that big, small or medium size and one family would have baked them, then fried the fish. They would have prepared it for the journey from where they are to the place where Jesus will be.

So that was their ration. Probably for a few days.

There is one thing that we always bypass in this Reading, that is the little boy.

The boy presented the bread and the fish. Probably for his family, that is all they have. And they were taking risks to pass it on to Jesus because they would not know whether they would get it back in return because we are talking about 5,000 people, feeding. Gospel says 5,000 men. What about the women and the children? They are going to be more.

So the family is basically taking a lot of risks to pass on what they have. As I said, they are not sure whether they will get it in return. We do not know because they don’t really know who Jesus is. They only hear about him but they do not know this man very well until things begin to happen.

So for that boy, that sense of sharing and giving up something, is a prize-winning gift from the boy to God.

Now what did Saint Paul say today? He said we need to be charitable, we need to be selfless, we need to be gentle and patient. That boy in the Gospel had all these qualities. He became an example of charity to the people. And for Jesus, that is prize-winning.

So, the question we have to ask ourselves today:
Can we be like the little boy? To show charity within the family, within the community, within the Church and then share what we have?

Because for Jesus, sharing is the priceless gift you cannot find anywhere. Sharing of something to someone does not come from the mind but it comes from the heart.

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