ARE YOU A CROWD PLEASER? | Homily 28 July 2024 with Fr. Jerry Orbos | 17th Sunday Ordinary Time

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THE CROWD

Someone once compared husbands to split-type air-conditioners, i.e., noisy outside with the crowd, but silent inside the house.
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In today’s Gospel (John 6:1-15), we hear about a large noisy crowd that was following Jesus and His disciples. Imagine the chatter and the clutter! But, when it came to feeding a crowd of 5,000 hungry people, it was a quiet, simple child that made the difference to feed them all. Also in life, it is not the noisy ones, but often the silent ones that get things done.
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Jesus was able to make the multiplication of the bread and fish happen, because of a little boy who willingly parted and shared what he had. The “crowd” also had their food provisions, but were not willing to share them with others. Jesus must have used the example of the generous little boy to encourage the others to also share whatever they had. There is enough for everyone if everyone would just share with everyone.
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The apostle Philip saw the crowd and said: “Two hundred day’s wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” On the other hand, Andrew saw the little boy and said: “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fishes.” When we encounter situations or problems, do we become the “organizer” Philip who sees the crowd and gets overwhelmed, or the “visionary” Andrew who sees a little boy with abilities and possibilities?
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What was the difference between the little boy and the crowd? The boy was focused on Jesus; the crowd was focused on themselves, and on each other. The little boy was open to Jesus’ agenda; the crowd had their own personal agenda.
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If we