17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B: July 26, 2009
2 Kgs 4:42-44; Ps 145:10-11, 15-18; Eph 4:1-6; John 6:1-15
This past year, my assignment as a transitional deacon was at the Catholic Student Center at the University of Maryland, up in College Park. And one thing I learned is that, if you are going to hold any campus ministry activity and have students come to it, there is one essential element food. Up at Maryland they have their big Wednesday night dinners every week, and at committee meetings they have pizza, and on a weekend retreat they have a big table of cookies and chips and soda that they eat over the course of the weekend. And somehow they never gain a pound!
But it isn’t only campus ministries. Parents and those who teach children know how important their snacks are. And food is important in the life of an ordinary parish. (more…)