Daily Liturgy
Friday April 16
your Son, Jesus, fed
those who followed him in the desert
and they received as much as they wanted.
May we know and be convinced
that he can fill our own emptiness
not just with gifts
that fill our need of the moment,
but with himself,
and may we accept him eagerly,
for he is our Lord for ever.
Reading 1: ACTS 5:34-42
A Pharisee in the Sanhedrin named Gamaliel,
a teacher of the law, respected by all the people,
stood up, ordered the Apostles to be put outside for a short time,
and said to the Sanhedrin, “Fellow children of Israel,
be careful what you are about to do to these men.
Some time ago, Theudas appeared, claiming to be someone important,
and about four hundred men joined him, but he was killed,
and all those who were loyal to him
were disbanded and came to nothing.
After him came Judas the Galilean at the time of the census.
He also drew people after him,
but he too perished and all who were loyal to him were scattered.
So now I tell you,
have nothing to do with these men, and let them go.
For if this endeavor or this activity is of human origin,
it will destroy itself.
But if it comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them;
you may even find yourselves fighting against God.”
They were persuaded by him.
After recalling the Apostles, they had them flogged,
ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus,
and dismissed them.
So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin,
rejoicing that they had been found worthy
to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.
And all day long, both at the temple and in their homes,
they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14
R. (see 4abc) One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
One thing I ask of the LORD
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
R. One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. One thing I seek: to dwell in the house of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia: MT 4:4B
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: JN 6:1-15
Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee.
A large crowd followed him,
because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.
Jesus went up on the mountain,
and there he sat down with his disciples.
The Jewish feast of Passover was near.
When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,
he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?”
He said this to test him,
because he himself knew what he was going to do.
Philip answered him,
“Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough
for each of them to have a little.”
One of his disciples,
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,
“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;
but what good are these for so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people recline.”
Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.
So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed them to those who were reclining,
and also as much of the fish as they wanted.
When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
“Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted.”
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat.
When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,
“This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off
to make him king,
he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
Intercessions
– For those who left the Church or have not yet found it, that the witnessing of our evangelical living may be the food that nourishes their hunger for God, we pray:
– For people who have enough to eat, that they be concerned to bring to those in need the food of their help, love and justice, we pray:
– For those who participate regularly in the Eucharist, that they may also learn and relish the food of your word, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord, our God,
your Son Jesus, shares himself again
in these signs of bread and wine.
May he make us to our neighbor
the bread of encouragement and justice
and the drink of joy and peace.
We ask you this through Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ,
you let your Son stay with us in the Eucharist
so as to live more among us
in everyday life.
Accept our thanks
and let him continue to be our strength
on the road of life
until we reach with him,
the house of you, our God and Father,
and live in your joy for ever.
Blessing
We believe in Jesus, our Risen Lord. He nourishes us with his Word of life; may it be Good News which we want to experience and practice. He nourishes us with his bread of life. May it prompt you to bring love and serving help to anyone in need, with the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
When we read the Gospel of John, we should register one important point in our minds: He was not writing a chronicle of events that happened in the life of Jesus. The beginning of Chapter 6 of John is full of imageries that present Jesus as the new Moses. Moses helped the Israelites to cross over the dead sea, gave them Manna to eat in the desert, and gave them the law on the mountain.
Today’s passage begins by saying “Jesus went across the sea of Galilee. And a large crowd followed him.” There is no mention of any boat here. How would a large crowd go across the sea? That’s what happened in the Exodus: Moses led the large crowd to cross the sea without any boat. Like Moses, Jesus is accompanied by numerous people.
Jesus goes up the mountain and sits down with his disciples, just as Moses was on the mountain, and taught his people. During the Exodus Moses gave manna and, like him, Jesus feeds those who follow him.
In the book of Deuteronomy, 18:18 God speaks to Moses: “I shall raise up a prophet from their midst, one of their brothers, who will be like you. I will put my words in his mouth and he will tell them all that I command.” Towards the end of today’s passage we hear the crowd’s response to Jesus feeding of the 5000 with five loaves: “This is truly the prophet, the one who is to come into this world.”
John makes these references to present Jesus as the new Moses who begins, with humanity, a new exodus, a passage from slavery to freedom, from unsustainable and inhumane conditions to real life.
The goal of the journey of Moses was the promised land of Canaan. Now Jesus leads his people to the true promised land, the Kingdom of God. It is not about paradise, an afterlife, but, it is about the now and here. The sign performed by Jesus indicates that the new society, in which everyone is given the opportunity to live according to the plan of the Creator, where everyone can have sufficient resources, must begin here and now.
John is the only evangelist who notes that the one who has made available the little food he had “was a child” and that his bread was made “of barley” (v. 9), the staple food of the poor. But in our understanding, children would be the first to consume their snacks! The symbolic value of the detail is obvious: in the gospel, the child is the model disciple: Those who want to enter the kingdom of heaven must be like children (Mk 10:15).
Now the message is clear: the poor child is the disciple called to make available to his/her brothers and sisters all that he/she has. This is a great proposal; this is the key of the miracle! It is enough that people put aside their selfishness, overcoming the greed to possess, “which is the root of every evil” (1 Tim 6:10). When we make available all that we have without reservation to our sisters and brothers, the miracle happens: all are fed and even have leftovers.