Allocution, July 25, XVII Sunday in Ordinary Time, Feast of Saint James the Apostle

Thanks to all who make this radio broadcast possible, today Sunday, July 25, the seventeenth Sunday of ordinary liturgical time and feast of the Apostle Santiago, patron and protector of Santiago de las Vegas. We hear in all the Catholic churches of the world the gospel according to Saint John chapter 6 verses 1 to 15.

(GOSPEL)

God the Father, when creating man and woman, gave them animals and plants so that they could feed themselves and grow in health to work. A plant has seeds and from those seeds come innumerable plants for food and medicine. Animals reproduce and multiply and many serve as food for man. For the wonder of the reproductive nature that feeds us, glory to the Father, to the Son, to the Holy Spirit. Amen.

When God’s people came out of slavery to the Egyptians by being in the desert, they murmured against Moses and his brother Aron saying: “I wish we had died in the land of Egypt when we ate pots of meat and bread to our fill, and here we go to die in this desert ”. And God said to Moses: “In the evening they will eat meat and be satisfied with bread.” In the afternoon quail came and covered the camp of God’s people, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew layer evaporated, a tiny grain-like thing, similar to frost, appeared on the surface of the desert on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other: “What is this?” Which in Hebrew is called manu and it became popularly the word manna. “What is this?”. The bread that God gives them to eat. And God commanded to collect as needed, according to the number of people who lived in each store. The one who gathered more he did not have more than enough, and the one who gathered less did not lack. Elisha, God’s prophet in the Old Testament, received twenty barley loaves and said to his servant: “Give it to the people to eat.” He replied, “How am I going to distribute these loaves to a hundred men?” Elisha insisted: “Give it to the people to eat because they will all feed themselves and there will be more than enough. God’s word.

And so it was: manna. What is this? What is this wonder of sharing? Something similar to what happens in nature, multiplying food, to that of the people of Israel with manna, to that of the prophet Elisha, the Gospel of today has narrated to us. Many people followed Jesus and he wants to feed them. Jesus says to Philip: “How will we buy bread to feed these people?” What is this? How are you going to feed so many people without money? A boy delivers five loaves and two fish. Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks and began to distribute them, and he did the same with the fish, and everyone ate their fill and there were twelve baskets left over. What is this? How wonderful this multiplication!

Today’s Gospel invites us to share; We will lack nothing, and those who give and receive will be satisfied. Every time we eat bread, food, we give thanks to God and we ask him to be able to share and he himself will multiply, in one way or another, return what we gave. What is this? How wonderful to share and receive multiply.

Jesus has commanded us to do the same at the Last Supper, take bread, give thanks, share and nourish ourselves with his body and blood in the Eucharist. What is this? How wonderful, Christ and I identified both with a single heart, with a single soul, with a single desire for good and love. Spiritually we enjoy spiritual fellowship.

(SONG)

Today we celebrate the feast of Santiago Apóstol. He was born in Bedzaida, he was the son of Sebedeo and brother of the apostle John. He was present in the main miracles worked by the Lord. He was martyred by King Herod around the year 42. Since ancient times the persuasion that James had preached the gospel in the confines of the West is widespread. After the Mohammedan invasion, the Apostle Santiago appears venerated as the shining head of Spain and patron of its Christian kingdoms. In the centuries that followed, they proclaimed his gratitude for the apostle’s protection in the defense of the faith and the independence of the country and for his assistance in missionary action that helped spread the Church throughout the world. His tomb in Compostela, like the empty tomb of the Lord in Jerusalem and the tomb of Saint Peter in Rome, attracts innumerable pilgrims from all over Christendom to this day. We ask James the Apostle to present our supplications and requests to our Father God. Accompany the people of Santiago de las Vegas: