Mass for the 17th Sunday of Ordinary Time - year B

00:08 - Our celebrant today is Jesuit Fr. Russell Pollitt SJ.

00:36 - In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

00:39 - [Amen. ] The grace and the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

00:46 - [And with your spirit. ] We come before the Lord, we ask the Lord for the healing that we need, the forgiveness, for those parts of our lives where we realise we have failed.

00:59 - But most of all the courage to truly live as members of his kingdom.

01:09 - Lord Jesus, you are Son of God and Son of Mary.

01:11 - Lord, have mercy. [Lord, have mercy. ] Christ Jesus, you are word made flesh and splendour of the Father.

01:17 - Christ, have mercy. [Christ, have mercy. ] Lord Jesus, you will come in glory to judge both the living and the dead.

01:23 - Lord, have mercy. [Lord, have mercy. ] May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to life everlasting.

01:31 - [Amen. ] Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will.

01:37 - We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father.

01:49 - Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.

02:08 - For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.

02:19 - Amen. And let us pray: O God, protector of those who hope in you, without whom nothing has firm foundation, and nothing is holy, bestow in abundance your mercy upon us and grant that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may use the good things that pass in such a way as to hold fast even now to those that ever endure.

02:49 - We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

02:58 - [Amen. ] A reading from the second Book of Kings.

03:19 - In those days: A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack.

03:32 - 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 the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left. ’” So he set it before them.

03:55 - And they ate, and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

04:02 - The word of the Lord. [Thanks be to God. ] You open your hand, Lord, and you satisfy us.

04:09 - [You open your hand, Lord, and you satisfy us. ] All your works shall thank you, O Lord, and all your faithful ones bless you.

04:20 - They shall speak of the glory of your reign, and declare your mighty deeds.

04:24 - [You open your hand, Lord, and you satisfy us. ] The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.

04:36 - You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

04:40 - [You open your hand, Lord, and you satisfy us. ] The Lord is just in all his ways, and holy in all his deeds.

04:52 - The Lord is close to all who call him, who call on him in truth.

04:57 - [You open your hand, Lord, and you satisfy us. ] A reading from the letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians.

05:09 - Brethren: I, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner 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.

05:32 - There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one 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.

05:54 - The word of the Lord. [Thanks be to God. ] [Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!] A great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited his people. ` [Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!] The Lord be with you.

06:44 - [And with your spirit] A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.

06:49 - [Glory to you, O Lord. ] At that time: Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberius.

07:00 - And a multitude followed him, because they saw the signs which he did on those who were diseased.

07:07 - Jesus went up into the hills, and there sat down with his disciples.

07:14 - Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

07:19 - Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, 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.

07:36 - And 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.

08:11 - 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.

08:22 - 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.

08:40 - 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.

08:58 - The Gospel of the Lord. [Praise to you, Lord, Jesus Christ. ] I once went to a family meal, and the family were having some difficulty with their adolescent daughter – going through a particularly defiant and rebellious stage.

09:26 - Most parents, no doubt, know something about this.

09:30 - She refused to eat the vegetables on her plate.

09:34 - And her mother said that wasting food is a sin.

09:39 - She said something like, “there are many people in the world who are starving, who’d be grateful to have what you don’t want to eat now”.

09:47 - I’m sure many parents know this too, because they have said it to their children.

09:52 - And so this adolescent stormed off. And a few minutes later she returned and started to stuff these vegetables that she didn’t want into an envelope.

10:03 - She put the envelope in front of her mother, and said to her angrily, “What starving people do you want me to send these to then?!!” This story captures something of the many themes that confront us in these rich Scripture texts that we have heard today.

10:22 - It seems to me that these texts speak about cooperation, about abundance, about waste, about social responsibility, about appreciation.

10:35 - And we can make the mistake of seeing these events, in the first Reading from the book of Kings and in the Gospel – as “miraculous happenings” and fail to see how they confront us today in a real, and in a personal way.

10:53 - And I want to suggest that these texts that we have heard today, put before us a number of invitations and maybe even some lessons.

11:04 - And the first one is that of generosity. Both in that First Reading in the book of Kings and the Gospel have, certainly, as a major theme, the generosity of God.

11:19 - In both all are fed and there are leftovers.

11:26 - And we’re being invited to live that same generous mode of being as God – materially, but also in the way we use our talents and our time.

11:42 - The background for this text is the Eucharist – take this all of you, and eat it and drink.

11:50 - In John’s Gospel, this whole chapter 6 is an account of the Eucharist.

11:58 - Notice the language that we hear as you read this text over the next couple of weeks.

12:03 - And so we too are invited to that same generosity as God – a generosity that gives of who we are and what we are.

12:16 - It’s interesting to look and to ask ourselves, perhaps in the past week, “Where are the times where I can see that I have been generous? With what I have, but also who I am with others. ” It’s a tough question and it may evoke some guilt in us but it’s a question that we need to ask ourselves, because generosity is not a very popular attitude in our world today.

12:48 - And yet, we believe in a God who is abundant in generosity, and we’re being invited to do the same.

12:58 - The second invitation, I think, is something about cooperation.

13:03 - Notice that it is because of the cooperation of people – one in the First Reading and that “lad”, as he’s called in the Gospel, that there is the possibility of food and leftovers.

13:19 - See when we choose to cooperate with God and with one another, God works through us and there can be abundance.

13:31 - At the heart of our faith community is the need to cooperate.

13:38 - And the Church stresses this so often. But even if we look at the Cross itself, we notice that the Cross has got two beams, one that reaches from heaven to earth, and another one that stretches sideways.

13:53 - It’s constantly reminding us, an invitation for us to cooperate with God but also with one another.

14:03 - In a world where there is so much that divides us, where there is so much that destroys cooperation, or the goodwill to cooperate.

14:13 - We are invited to be countersigns and cooperate with God.

14:20 - And we do this by truly listening to others, by truly sharing with others, and I think too that this is becoming increasingly difficult as we live in a world that becomes more and more suspicious of the motives of others.

14:40 - We have perhaps, in one way or another, subconsciously even, “privatised” our faith.

14:47 - Because faith is between me and God. And yet, the Lord works through us, when we are working together, when we are cooperating with one another.

15:01 - And in a divided world, and in a divided society it is perhaps one of the biggest challenges we have, to find new ways of cooperating with each other so that God can work in is and through us in our own times.

15:19 - This, of course, requires of us a renewed understanding of our faith, a renewed reminder of God’s vision, but also a renewed energy and effort to reach out and to cooperate with others of goodwill.

15:43 - The third lesson there is something about nothing is too small for God.

15:50 - Notice how God, through Elisha and Jesus, takes the very little they have and uses it to feed many.

15:59 - It seems to me that there is a real lesson in that for us.

16:04 - It’s not the amount that counts, we live in a world where quantity always seems to be the most important element in anything.

16:14 - But rather, it’s our willingness to give whatever little we have that is important.

16:24 - You see, God always starts where we are, not where we are not, or not where we think we should be.

16:34 - God uses who and what we are now in this moment in time, if we allow God to use us.

16:43 - It’s not about having the tools or having the quantity but rather it’s about becoming the tools.

16:53 - God will use us right now if, like that “lad” in the Gospel we are willing to allow God to use the little that we think we have.

17:05 - It’s what you have now that God wants. And what we have now is never for us, the ideal, and for God that is okay.

17:17 - And the fourth and final lesson perhaps or invitation for us is to reflect on something about the leftovers.

17:29 - Our own waste. Most of us who are watching this broadcast, are probably never truly hungry.

17:38 - It’s hard for us to appreciate how wasteful we can be.

17:44 - There are, in most of our homes leftovers in the fridge, things that we throw away, things that we allow to go way past the expiry date and we just pitch out. The way we use water and electricity.

17:58 - And so this Sunday, perhaps the Lord is asking us to reflect on “How wasteful am I?” It’s a good question to reflect on.

18:13 - Because if taken seriously, we suddenly realise that thousands of people each day have no access to food or to water, or electricity, as many of us do.

18:28 - It becomes a healthy moment in our lives when we look at our habits and we notice how those habits are wasteful, and how they are part of the cycle of the way we are used to living.

18:43 - And maybe it challenges us to change our priorities and calls for us to change the things that we do each day – in our families, in our communities, and as nations.

19:01 - In our homes we waste good food, we have “leftovers”; and often in our nations we spend more on security, or armament than we spend on starving children.

19:14 - You see, the Gospel is always calling us to reorder our priorities.

19:21 - Bringing about a change in us, so that we bring about a change around us, so that Gods kingdom becomes more and more of a reality amongst us.

19:35 - Let’s pray today as we celebrate this Eucharist, as we are fed at the table of the Lord, that we will not act like that rebellious, or defiant adolescent.

19:48 - Let’s pray that we would learn truly how to be generous, how to cooperate with one another, how to give the little that we have, so that God can reorder the things around us.

20:05 - And let’s pray most especially, that we will not be afraid to reflect on those areas of our lives where we are wasteful, and be willing to open ourselves to change, to reorder our priorities, so that we are not wasteful.

20:22 - And aware, conscious of those who do not have what we do.

20:27 - Because, when we do this we begin to understand what the Eucharist really means, and what it means to be partakers in that Eucharist.

20:39 - Because Jesus says “take this… and eat it… it is given for you… ” And we too, should be saying to others, “take this… and eat it… it is given for you… ” Let’s respond to God’s Word by praying together the Apostle’s Creed.

21:19 - I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

21:50 - I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.

22:02 - Amen. God has spoken to us in the Scriptures.

22:09 - God invites us to change. Let’s bring our need, especially our need for change before the Lord, as we present our prayers to God.

22:36 - For the leaders of the Church: that they may faithfully, and lovingly watch over the flock of Christ.

22:46 - Lord hear us… [Lord, graciously hear us. ] Christ broke down the barrier between Jew and Gentile, that his followers may strive to overcome all forms of tribalism: sexism, racism, xenophobia.

23:07 - Lord hear us… [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For the leaders in our country: that they may carry out their office in a caring way.

23:19 - Lord hear us… [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For those who are lost, lonely, sick, and those who feel like nobody cares about them; we pray for them in faith.

23:37 - Lord hear us… [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For members of this community: that our suffering may teach us to have compassion for the sufferings of others.

23:54 - Lord hear us… [Lord, graciously hear us. ] For our deceased relatives and friends, for all those who have died due to the Covid pandemic: that they may dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

24:11 - Lord hear us… [Lord, graciously hear us. ] And we pray too, for our own special needs.

24:25 - Lord hear us… [Lord, graciously hear us. ] Lord God, you are a God of generosity.

24:34 - We pray now as we present these prayers to you, that you would respond to them with the same generosity as Jesus responds to those crowds.

24:42 - And we make this prayer through him, who lives and reigns with you for ever and ever.

24:48 - [Amen. ] Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have this bread to offer: fruit of the earth, work of our human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.

25:32 - [Blessed be God for ever. ] Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have this wine to offer: fruit of the vine, work of our human hands, it will become for us our spiritual drink.

25:55 - [Blessed be God for ever] Let’s pray sisters and brothers, that our sacrifice and the sacrifice and efforts of our lives may be acceptable to God, the Almighty Creator.

26:16 - [May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of God’s name, for our good and the good of all God’s holy Church. ] Accept, O Lord, we pray, the offerings which we bring from the abundance of your gifts, that through the powerful working of your grace these most sacred mysteries may sanctify our present way of life and lead us to eternal gladness, We ask this through Christ our Lord.

26:43 - [Amen] The Lord be with you. [And with your spirit. ] Lift up your hearts.

26:49 - [We lift them up to the Lord. ] Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

26:52 - [It is right and just. ] It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, holy Father, Lord of heaven and earth, through Christ our Lord.

27:03 - For by your Word you created the world and you govern all things in harmony.

27:07 - You gave us the same Word made flesh as Mediator, and he has spoken your words to us and called us to follow him.

27:14 - He is the way that leads to you, the truth that sets us free, the life that fills us with gladness.

27:20 - Through your Son you gather men and women, whom you have made for the glory of your name, into one family, redeemed by the Blood of his Cross and signed with the seal of the Spirit.

27:30 - Therefore now and for ages unending, with all the Angels, we proclaim your glory, as in joyful celebration we acclaim: Holy, Holy, Holy [Lord God of hosts.

27:42 - Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.

27:47 - Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

27:51 - Hosanna in the highest. ] You are indeed Holy and to be glorified, O God, who love the human race and who always walk with us on the journey of life.

28:01 - Blessed indeed is your Son, present in our midst when we are gathered by his love, and when, as once for the disciples, and so now for us, he opens the Scriptures and breaks the bread.

28:11 - Therefore, Father most merciful, we ask that you send forth your Holy Spirit to sanctify these gifts of bread and wine, that they may become for us the Body and Blood of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

28:23 - On the day before he was to suffer, on the night of the Last Supper, he took bread and said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU AND EAT OF IT, FOR THIS IS MY BODY, WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU.

28:50 - In a similar way, when supper was ended, he took the cup, gave you thanks and gave the cup to his disciples, saying: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT, FOR THIS IS THE CUP OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT, WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR ALL FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

29:07 - DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME. The mystery of faith.

29:23 - Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.

29:31 - Therefore, holy Father, as we celebrate the memorial of Christ your Son, our Saviour, whom you led through his Passion and Death on the Cross to the glory of the Resurrection, and whom you have seated at your right hand, we proclaim the work of your love until he comes again and we offer you the Bread of life and the Cup of blessing.

29:47 - Look with favour on the offering of your Church, in which we show forth the paschal Sacrifice of Christ that has been handed on to us, and grant that, by the power of the Spirit of your love, we may be counted now and until the day of eternity among the members of your Son, in whose Body and Blood we have communion.

30:05 - By our partaking of this mystery, almighty Father, give us life through your Spirit, grant that we may be conformed to the image of your Son, and confirm us in a bond of communion, together with Francis our Pope, Buti our Bishop, with all Bishops, Priests and Deacons, and your entire people.

30:25 - Grant that all the faithful of the Church, looking into the signs of the times by the light of faith, may constantly devote themselves to the service of the Gospel.

30:34 - Keep us attentive to the needs of all that, sharing their grief and their pain, their joy and hope, we may faithfully bring them the good news of salvation and go forward with them along the way of your Kingdom.

30:51 - Remember our brothers and sisters, who have fallen asleep in the peace of your Christ, and all the dead, whose faith you alone have known.

30:58 - Admit them to rejoice in the light of your face, and in the resurrection give them the fullness of life.

31:04 - And grant also to us, when our earthly pilgrimage is done, that we may come to an eternal dwelling place and live with you for ever; there, in communion with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with Saint Joseph her spouse, with the Apostles and Martyrs, and with all the Saints, we shall praise and exalt you through Jesus Christ, your Son.

31:26 - Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honour is yours, for ever and ever.

31:36 - [Amen. ] Let’s pray now as the Lord Jesus himself taught us: Our Father, [who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

31:58 - Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. ] Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, and graciously grant peace in our days.

32:15 - That by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

32:23 - [For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and for ever. ] Let’s pray together now the prayer for peace: Lord Jesus Christ, you said to your Apostles: Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will, who live and reign for ever and ever.

32:53 - [Amen. ] The peace of the Lord be with you always.

32:58 - [And with your spirit. ] And we pray: Lamb of God, [you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

33:08 - Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

33:13 - Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace. ] My sisters, my brothers, behold Jesus, the Lamb of God, the one who takes away the sin of the world, how blessed are we who are called to share in this supper of the Lamb.

33:31 - [Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. ] May the Body and Blood of Christ bring all of us, our family, our friends and all people to life everlasting.

33:45 - [Amen. ] Although you cannot receive physical communion with us now, we invite you into a moment of spiritual communion.

34:01 - The great medieval theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas, defined spiritual communion as: “an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament”, and “a loving embrace as though we had already received him. ” His words are echoed by the great mystic, and fellow doctor of the church, St. Teresa of Avila, who wrote: “When you do not receive Communion, and do not attend Mass, you can make a spiritual communion which is a most beneficial practice.

34:33 - By it, the love of God will be greatly impressed on you. ” At this moment we invite you to focus on Christ, and your longing for union with him.

34:47 - Express your desire to feel his grace coursing through you, giving you strength and courage, particularly in these difficult times.

34:57 - In your desiring union you are united with us, and to Christ.

35:03 - In this moment we experience the reality that is already here.

36:39 - Let us pray. We have consumed, O Lord, this divine Sacrament, the perpetual memorial of the Passion of your Son; grant, we pray, that this gift, which he himself gave us with love beyond all telling, may profit us for salvation.

36:57 - We ask this through Christ our Lord. [Amen. ] The Lord be with you.

37:02 - [And with your spirit] May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

37:07 - [Amen. ] Go now in the peace of Christ.

37:10 - [Thanks be to God. ].