17th Sunday of the year in ordinary time
Readings: 2 Kings 4:42-44 Ephesians 4: 1-6 John 6:1-15
Theme: We serve a generous God
From today’s liturgy, we see the depth of God’s love and generosity for his people. In the first reading and the gospel, we see God feeding His people. Jesus uses every opportunity to show us the depth of His love for you and I. the question today my brothers and sisters is, Do we emulate Jesus’ way of life? That is what Paul admonished us to do in today’s second reading. We are all encouraged to reflect on this question, “Are you living a life that is worthy of your calling as a child of God? We are all children of God, and we are called to be people of God and as such it is expected that we live a life that is built in Christ, a life that is enriched by the imperatives of the Gospel.
That is why my brothers and sisters, today the Lord is saying to us that there is need for us to emulate Him, there is need for us to be generous with our time, there is need for us to be generous with our resources, there is need for us to be generous with the gifts that God has given us. Let us learn to share with those who do not have the little that God has blessed us with. We will not become poor because we are generous, we will rather attract more blessings from God to ourselves. It is not about having so much before you can share, even in the little we have let us learn to share. Today Jesus teaches us what it means to be selfless, what it means to feed others, and what it means to put others in view especially in hopeless situations. We see that in the first reading and in the Gospel, humanly speaking it is not possible; but with God everything is possible. As long as we give God a chance in our lives, he will never disappoint us, He never fails those who trust in him.
In the 2nd reading, St. Paul invites us to live like children of God in our daily lives. It is an invitation to a Christ like life for you and I. Does your life reflect anything Christian? Does your life reflect somebody who believes in God, somebody who trusts in God? Our life as Christian’s is supposed to mirror the person of Christ. It is supposed to mirror the people who believe in God’s kingdom, people are supposed to encounter us and feel God’s presence in our life.
That is why on this 17th Sunday, it is a clarion call for all of us as people of God, and children of God to make honest and sincere effort to live a life that is worthy of the name Christian. We serve a faithful God that stands by his promises. He wants us to emulate Him and bear good fruits that will lead us to everlasting life. That is why we are privileged people as children of God. He has called us to follow Him in a very unique way and impact positively in our world.
Today the Lord is encouraging us to live a life that is built on love of God and neighbours, in humility and charity and experience his blessings in our lives. We pray that God in his infinite goodness will grant us the grace to emulate him in all our actions. Peace be with you.