In the Book of Exodus, as their journey across the desert drags on, the people of Israel remember, ostensibly with fondness, the fleshpots and bread they were given to sustain them when they were slaves in Egypt. Anything is better than the hunger they are now experiencing! But, as always, God provides: I will now rain down bread from heaven for you, the Lord tells Moses; in addition to the quail God sends, the people can use the fine flakes of manna to make bread. Yet, although the Lord has fulfilled his promise, the people are not grateful. They have what they need, yet they are not satisfied. Only in hindsight will the psalmist commemorate this extraordinary gift in Psalm 78: Man ate the bread of angels, food the Lord sent them in abundance. While their desert trials last, however, the people of Israel remain discontented with all that God is doing in their lives.
Are Jesus’ disciples any different? In John’s gospel, impressed with the miracle of the loaves, the people seek out Jesus, but he advises them against food that perishes, insisting that he, the Son of Man, will give them food that endures for eternal life. It is not tangible food they need so much as God’s love, a love that will be expressed through sacrifice. It is to be fed by this intangible love that we come to Eucharist, to give thanks for all the wonders God has wrought in our lives, and to enter more fully into what God is accomplishing in and through us. Only this food truly satisfies.
What is the love of God producing in you right now? Where might your faith be? Paul tells the Ephesians that they must not live in the futility of their minds, but rather put away the old self and put on the new self, created in God’s way. To remain in futility is to be self-focused, self-centered, and thus darkened in understanding, alienated from the world, existing in the narrowness of view that shuts out the other. We, like the Ephesians, are called to put on the new self of other-centeredness, building one another up through faith, focused in the love that Christ has for us, that we might be his love revealed in our world. Will that satisfy us? You bet, so long as we come to Mass for that food that endures for eternal life, truly enter into his love, and build one another up in faith, sharing that love with our world. May we be grateful!
This post is based on Fr Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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