2024-07-28 Seventeenth Sunday in ordinary time
Seventeenth Sunday in ordinary time 2 Kings 4:42-44 The “food from the first fruits” is a holy offering (Leviticus 23:20) brought on the last day of the harvest. According to the festival instructions, it is to be delivered to the priest who is to offer it before the LORD. In 2 Kings 4, however, it is brought to the prophet Elisha who instructs that it be offered to the people who number in their hundreds, saying that it will not only be enough but there will be leftovers. The abundance is made possible by God’s grace of a bountiful harvest. It was initiated by the generosity of an anonymous giver from the village of Baal-shalishah, the modern village of Kafr Thulth near present-day Lod about 15 miles SE of Tel Aviv. It is shared with others because of the recipient’s (Isiah) generosity. All are included because an administrator is concerned about equity. Through this sharing the community becomes holy. The passage depicts the miracle of daily existence: h...