Scripture Reflections for Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Elisha, through the power of God, fed a hundred men with twenty barley loaves and fresh grain, and had some over. Jesus of Nazareth, through the power of God, fed five thousand men (to say nothing of women and children, Matthew adds) with five loaves and two fish, and twelve hampers of scraps were collected afterwards."

Fr. Vivian Boland. "Food in due season." Torch. July 27, 2003

"The Feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle reported by all four evangelists, and each of them have their own take. Luke, for example, provides the location of the event as being at Bethsaida. Whilst Matthew, for his part, relays the interesting detail about the miracle taking place in the context of the tragic news of John the Baptist’s beheading. Mark, typically enough, gives us the bare bones. Whereas John’s Gospel — the account..."

Fr. Sam Burke. "Gathering In." Torch. July 21, 2021

"When we take summer trips what do we take with us? Imagine the list. How many changes of clothes? What about medicine? Grooming equipment? Money in cash and credit cards? Golf clubs? Laptop computers, cell phones, and “play” gadgets. We want to make sure all of our needs are taken care of—no stone left unturned."

Joseph LaCombe. "God Will Provide." A Catholic Moment. July 29, 2018

"I’m notorious in our household for often uttering these three little words –God will provide.Notorious I say because it is often not the answer some in my family want to hear at the time. Believing this takes trust, and perhaps one of the hardest virtues – patience. Just ask my wife – she’ll roll her eyes and tell you. Financial problems? Job issues? Problem with other kids? Just problems in general? God will provide a..."

Bob Garvey. "God Provides." A Catholic Moment. July 15, 2018

"I love technology. It can make life so much easier, and can make this big world so much smaller. It can bring people together from different parts of this world through means such as Facebook, Twitter, and websites like this. I love how we get so many readers and comments from people all over the world – Kenya, Nigeria, the Philippines, Australia, across Europe and all over North America just to name a few."

Joseph LaCombe. "Togetherness." A Catholic Moment. July 26, 2015

"Some days ago, somebody sent me a postcard that had a slogan emblazed on it that went like this: “Hell hath no fury like me when I’m slightly inconvenienced and hungry.” It’s the kind of thing that makes people smile, because it sheds a different humour on a well-known cliché, but also points towards something that we recognise in ourselves."

Fr. David Rocks. "Humble Need." Torch. July 22, 2015

"Occasionally, God provides food and drink miraculously, as for the widow Elijah stayed with, or when Elisha fed the hundred. Jesus turned water into wine; he fed 5,000 from five loaves and two fish. St. Dominic and his mother multiplied wine; St. John Vianney multiplied wheat and flour. In 1949, rice was multiplied for the poor at the intercession of Bl. John Macias at Ribero del Fresno; this led to his canonisation."

Fr. Richard Conrad. "The Spirit Enlarges Our Hearts." Torch. July 29, 2012

"Even in these tough times, we still assume a lot will be there as normal. Like electricity, for example. A couple of winters ago, there was quite a long power-cut one evening in the area around St. Dominic's Parish in London, where I'm a priest. Mass had to be celebrated with every candle we could find, and for several hours there was no electricity at all. No lights, no electric cookers or kitchen gadgets, no..."

Fr. Dominic White. "Fasting and Feasting." Torch. July 26, 2009

"Today’s readings teach us how physical or material needs cannot be neglected in our pastoral care of souls. Right from the beginning God has always presented himself as a father who understands the needs of his children, and at no time has he proven to be indifferent to their sufferings. A close look at the unfolding of the history of salvation will make us to see how God has always fed his people with abundance;..."

Father Lawrence Obilor. "So that they may not go hungry." A Catholic Moment. July 25, 2021

"This weekend we begin a five-week stretch of meditation on John 6, a kind of summer Eucharist-fest that comes around every three years. The rationale for this is that we are in Year B of the Lectionary, which covers the second Gospel, the Gospel of Mark. Now, Mark is the shortest of the Gospels, so in order to fill it out, the Church inserts John 6 into the middle of the Lectionary readings, near Mark..."

John Bergsma. "The Bread of Life." The Sacred Page. July 23, 2021

"The five loaves and two fish are all that they have, yet it more than suffices to feed the great multitude of people gathered by the Sea of Galilee. In today’s readings we are shown the connection between this feeding miracle and an earlier one recounted in the Second Book of Kings, in which the prophet Elisha tells the man from Baal-shalishah to give the first fruits of the harvest to the people to eat...."

Fr. David Goodill. "Child's Play." Torch. July 25, 2018

"Our Gospel passage from John is set shortly before the Jewish feast of Passover. In Jesus's time this was always a tense holiday period, particularly in Jerusalem, because it was widely believed that the Messiah would make his appearance at Passover time. We know that in Jerusalem there were occasional protests and riots and men claiming falsely to be the messiah during Passover."

Fr. Peter Harries. "Christ our Passover." Torch. July 30, 2006