Cycle B 17th Sunday Ordinary

Seventeenth Sunday of the Year [CYCLE B] MAIN MESSAGE

[This is for reference only. Please do not read it at Mass] All of us face difficult situations in our life: times of need. How do we react to this need? In the gospel story we see varying reactions to the hungry crowds : i. Philip, a practical person, says - 'Impossible to solve' ii. Andrew, half-believes but doubts. iii. The little boy confidently gives all he has iv. Jesus has full faith in the Father’s power and presence. We look at ourselves today and choose to be like the latter two. We ask for the grace to GIVE and BELIEVE.

INTRODUCTION: Celebrant: Children, suppose you are in the playground, and a big boy gets badly hurt. Just then the bell rings for assembly. What would you do? Would you say, ‘I can’t help, or I’ll get late for assembly.” Or would you say, “How can I do anything? I’m just a small boy/girl. He’s too heavy for me to move!” Sometimes in life there are problems, people need help. What do you do at such times? We’ll think about this today. LITURGY OF THE WORD: Commentator: In the first reading the Prophet Elisha was faced with a bit of a problem. There were a hundred hungry people with him and only 20 small paos of bread. Let’s see what he did. First Reading: 2 Kings 4:42-44. Psalm: 145:10-11; 15-16.

Commentator: In today's gospel you will see another big need. Thousands of people came to listen to Jesus; but there is no food for all of them. There were many people present at the time. What did they do? How did they think? Listen carefully and then you will be able to answer my questions after the Gospel. Gospel: John 6:1-15. Homily: Celebrant: Let’s think about the story we just heard. (It is a true story, not a made-up one!) •Can you tell me some of the people who were present in the story? [There was Jesus, Philip, who was one of Jesus’ friends, Andrew, who was also one of his friends, and a boy.] •If you look at the poster, you will see 4 figures. They stand for the people in the story. Let’s see if you can match the names of the people with the figures. The first figure says, ‘Impossible! How can we do anything to help here?’ Who was like this in the story? [Philip] [Write the name in the space given, or stick the name on] •Philip was a very practical person. He was good at maths too. It took him no time at all to calculate how many people there were and how much it would cost to buy food for them all. His head was full of numbers, so he didn’t think, ‘Maybe Jesus can do something here!’ There are many people like Philip. They forget that God is there to help, and so they give up easily. •What about the second figure? He says, “Maybe… But..” Can you guess who it stands for? [Andrew] [Write the name] Andrew didn’t say ‘Impossible!’ He started thinking of what could be done. He found a little boy who was ready to share his food. “Something is better than nothing!” Andrew must have thought. But when he looked at the huge crowd, he felt doubtful again. Some of us are like that. We know that God is powerful and can help us, but we keep looking at the problem and then we lose faith. •What about the third person? The one who says ‘Take’? [It stands for the boy] He must have heard the people talking about food and he knew that he was the lucky one who had brought his food. Everyone else would have to go hungry. He thought, “Let me give what I can to Jesus.” There are some people who are like that boy. If they see a problem they are ready to help out, even if they don’t have much themselves. God can use such people to help others. •Who do you think the last figure stands for? [Jesus] Jesus saw that everyone was hungry and he knew that God loved them and wanted to feed them. So he thanked God even before the miracle happened. Then he gave the food to the people. Everyone had a good meal and ate till their stomachs were full. No one was left hungry. •There are people who have faith like Jesus. When they see a need, they don’t get worried, but just pray to God for help with full confidence. And God answers their prayers! • Let's think now about ourselves. Who do you want to be like? Let’s not be like Philip or Andrew. Let’s not forget about God or doubt his power. But let’s be generous, like the boy and let’s have faith in God, like Jesus. Then God will be able to use us to bless many people. APPROPRIATE HYMNS ENTRANCE: Thy Loving Kindness OFFERTORY: I Give My Hands COMMUNION: Come and Dine RECESSIONAL: I Just Keep Trusting My Lord

PREPARATION REQUIRED: •

•

Make poster and put up. Keep a marker handy for filling in the words during the homily. Practice the readings.

•NB. If you want to do something extra - special this Sunday you could give each child a small bun as they walk out of the hall. Tell them, “This is a gift from Jesus for you. As you eat it, remember that he wants you to be generous and trust God”

FIR ST REA DING : A reading from the second book of Kings: One day a man from the town of Baal Shalishah came with some food for Elisha. The man brought him twenty loaves of barley bread that had been made from the first crop of grain. He also brought some fresh heads of grain. Elisha told his servant, “Let the people have it to eat.” His servant replied, “This isn’t enough to feed a hundred people.” But Elisha told him, “Give the food to the people! The Lord has said that when they have finished eating, there will be some left over.” The servant gave them the food. And when they had finished eating, there was some left over, just as the Lord had promised. This is the Word of the Lord. PSALM : Response: You open your hands to feed us, Lord; you answer all our needs. All creation will thank you, and your loyal people will praise you. They will tell about your marvelous kingdom and your power. ALLELUIA : GOSPEL :

Everyone depends on you, and when the time is right, you provide them with food. By your own hand you satisfy the desires of all who live.

Alleluia, alleluia. A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people. Alleluia. A reading from the holy Gospel according to St. John.

Jesus crossed Lake Galilee, which was also known as Lake Tiberias. A large crowd had seen him work miracles to heal the sick, and those people went with him. It was almost the time for the Jewish festival of Passover, and Jesus went up on a mountain with his disciples and sat down. When Jesus saw the large crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where will we get enough food to feed all these people?” He said this to test Philip, since he already knew what he was going to do. Philip answered, “Don’t you know that it would take almost a year’s wages just to buy only a little bread for each of these people?” Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the disciples. He spoke up and said, “There is a boy here who has five small loaves of barley bread and two fish. But what good is that with all these people?” The ground was covered with grass, and Jesus told his disciples to have everyone sit down. About five thousand men were in the crowd. Jesus took the bread in his hands and gave thanks to God. Then he passed the bread to the people, and he did the same with the fish, until everyone had plenty to eat. The people ate all they wanted, and Jesus told his disciples to gather up the leftovers, so that nothing would be wasted. The disciples gathered them up and filled twelve large baskets with what was left over from the five barley loaves. After the people had seen Jesus work this miracle, they began saying, “This must be the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Jesus realized that they would try to force him to be their king. So he went up on a mountain, where he could be alone. This is the Gospel of the Lord. NB. All Readings are taken from the ‘Lectionary for Masses with Children’ canonically approved for use in the USA.