FranciscanMedia.org | Sunday Soundbites | 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday Soundbites

Sunday Soundbites is a weekly, 90-second radio homily based on the Sunday readings, written and read by Fr. Greg Friedman, O.F.M. Sunday Soundbites is also heard on Catholic radio stations around the country.

Program for Sunday, July 29, 2012
(17th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

Real Audio | Windows Media | MP3

Sunday Soundbites Archive

Transcript

2 Kgs 4:42-44
Ps 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18
Eph 4:1-6
Jn 6:1-15

Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, with the "Sunday Soundbite" for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

If you've traveled through an airport in another country, where a different language is spoken, you know the importance of signs—graphics that tell where to change money, catch a taxi or train, and of course, find the restroom! These signs need to be clear, lest there be misunderstanding. When we exchange more complex signs, such as in a relationship, we choose them even more carefully—for the risk of misunderstanding is even greater.

Beginning today, our Gospel readings for five weeks come from chapter six of John’s Gospel, where Jesus is portrayed as the "Bread of Life." In today’s selection, Jesus feeds a crowd of hungry people with a few loaves of bread and some fish. The people are looking for a prophet, someone like Moses, who promised that a heroic figure like himself was to come in the future.

Having witnessed the sign of the feeding of the crowd, some misunderstand and want to make Jesus king. He departs, rather than be drawn into their misguided interpretation of his purpose.

Like other signs we use, those surrounding our celebration of Eucharist are open to misunderstanding—or at least we can take them for granted. Let's let today’s Gospel lead us more deeply into these signs, to discover the person of Jesus Christ, present as the Bread of Life, the very life of God.

I’m Father Greg Friedman with the "Sunday Soundbite" for St. Anthony Messenger Press, on the Web at FranciscanRadio.org.

Meet Father Greg Friedman

Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M., is creative director with the Media Production Team at Franciscan Media. He also hosts American Catholic Radio each week, and produces videos for www.AmericanCatholic.org, including the "Two-Minute Take." Father Greg wrote and directed Assisi Pilgrimage: Walking in Faith with Francis and Clare, which appeared on ABC-TV stations nationwide. He also produced the popular faith-formation series Catholic Update Video, used in parishes around the U.S. He currently serves as pastor of St. Francis Seraph Parish, located in the inner-city neighborhood of "Over-the-Rhine" in Cincinnati, Ohio. You can contact him at letters@franciscanradio.org.

Connect With Us

Partner With Us

Franciscan Media and Franciscan Media Productions exist to "Share the Word that is Jesus Christ." We invite you to join in our efforts through prayerful support and financial donation. Click here to make a donation.