A Homily for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday, July 26, 2026
Saturday 4:00 and Sunday 10:00 Masses at Prince of Peace Catholic Church
Isaiah 55:1-3; Psalm 145:8-9, 15-16, 17-18; Romans 8:35, 37-39; Matthew 14:13-21
Audio Recording
Have you ever given a young child a beautifully wrapped present, and see them become so fascinated with the paper, the ribbon, and the bow that they hardly notice what’s inside. Adults smile because we know the wrapping was never the point. It was meant to lead us to the gift.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus feeds more than five thousand people with five loaves and two fish. It is one of the few miracles recorded in all four Gospels because it is so important. But the miracle is not just about feeding hungry people. It is a sign. The bread is the wrapping. The gift is something infinitely greater.
Notice how Matthew describes what Jesus does. He takes the bread. He looks up to heaven. He blesses it. He breaks it. He gives it to the disciples, who then give it to the people. Those actions should sound very familiar because they are the very actions Jesus will take at the Last Supper. Matthew wants us to see that this miracle is pointing us toward the Eucharist.
The people were hungry, and Jesus had compassion on them. He cared about their physical needs. But He cared even more about the deeper hunger that every human heart carries. Physical hunger always returns. We eat breakfast, and by lunchtime we’re hungry again. But there is another hunger inside us, a hunger for meaning, for forgiveness, for peace, for hope, for love that lasts. No amount of money, success, entertainment, or possessions can satisfy that hunger.
Isaiah speaks directly to that longing in our first reading: “Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what fails to satisfy?” How often do we chase things that promise happiness but leave us empty? We think, “If only I had a little more…” More security. More comfort. Better health. More recognition. Yet the human heart always seems to ask for something else.
God’s answer is remarkably simple: “Come to me.” And as St. Paul reminds us today, the One who invites us to Himself is the One whose love nothing in all creation can ever take away from us.
That invitation reaches its fullest expression in the Eucharist.
The novelist Flannery O’Connor once said, “The Eucharist is the center of existence for me; all the rest of life is expendable.” J.R.R. Tolkien wrote to his son that the Blessed Sacrament was “the one great thing to love on earth.”
Those words can sound exaggerated until we remember what the Eucharist truly is. We do not simply receive blessed bread. We receive the living Christ Himself. The One who multiplied the loaves and fish still feeds His people, but now He feeds us with His own Body and Blood. The miracle of the multiplication pointed toward the even greater miracle that happens at every celebration of the Holy Mass.
That is the pattern of all of Jesus’ miracles. He begins with what people can see in order to reveal what they cannot yet see. He heals bodies to show that He has come to heal souls. He calms storms to reveal that He alone can bring peace to the human heart. He feeds hungry crowds so that we might recognize our deepest food is Himself.
So what does this mean for us today?
First, don’t settle for the wrapping when God wants to give you the gift. There are many good things in life, but none of them can take the place of Christ. Whenever we expect created things to fill the place that belongs only to God, disappointment is inevitable.
Second, come to the Eucharist with greater expectation. It is easy for us to become so familiar with the Mass that we no longer marvel at what is happening. We receive what appears to be a small piece of bread, yet faith tells us that we are receiving the living Christ Himself. The same Lord who fed the crowds by the Sea of Galilee continues to feed His people today. Every Holy Communion is a personal encounter with the risen Lord.
Finally, remember that after Jesus blessed the loaves, He placed them into the hands of the disciples to distribute. He could have fed everyone directly, but He chose to work through His followers. The same is true today. Having been nourished by Christ, we become His hands in the world. We feed others with acts of kindness, words of encouragement, forgiveness, generosity, and the witness of lives transformed by His grace.
St. Paul assures us in today’s second reading that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. That love is not an abstract idea. It is encountered in a profound way in the Eucharist. Every celebration of the Holy Mass makes present the same Lord who fed the crowds beside the Sea of Galilee. He continues to nourish His people, not simply with bread, but with His own Body and Blood.
Whenever you next come forward to receive Holy Communion, ask for the grace to see beyond appearances. The eyes see the humble signs of bread and wine. Faith sees the Bread of Life. Faith recognizes the incomparable gift of Jesus Christ Himself, who alone satisfies every longing of the human heart and strengthens us for our pilgrimage to eternal life.