06-23-2014, 11:09 AM
BREAD FOR THE JOURNEY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: DT 8:2-3, 14-16; 1 COR 10:16-17; JN 6:51-58
http://www.universalis.com/20140622mass.htm
Our life, like the Israelites, is but a pilgrimage. They were in the desert for forty years before they could reach the Promised Land. And before that, they spent 400 years in Egypt, before leaving for the Promised Land.
But the long journey of life is necessary. In truth, life is the pedagogy of love; learning how to love like God. This was what Moses said to the people, “Remember how the Lord your God led you for forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, to test you and know your inmost heart – whether you would keep his commandments or not.” Sufferings in life are meant to help us grow and be purified. We cannot avoid sufferings in life. Even the letter to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus learnt obedience through suffering.
But more than just obedience through suffering, we are taught to become more aware of our limitations. It is through our suffering that we come to realize that we are not in control of life and that even if we have all the things in this life, we are not complete. Nothing in this world can satisfy us even if we can have everything. Indeed, our lives are not complete without God. If we suffer, it is because God wants us to realize that we are nothing without Him no matter what we have accomplished in life. Truly, many great people who do well in life, thinking they have everything in terms of career, wealth and status, come to recognize their limits when they face crises. Only then will they know that they are not so powerful after all, especially in the face of illness and death.
How, then, can we face the challenges of life? Where do we draw life and strength to face all these challenges of life?
God wanted the Israelites to come to appreciate that “man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:3) The provision of manna anticipates the Eucharist that the Lord will give to us all. While the manna could only sustain their physical life, the bread of life that Jesus gives would give us eternal life.
Indeed, Jesus alluded to this event of being the bread of life for the people when He said, “This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever” (John 6:58). Jesus by His incarnation and His prolongation of the Incarnation in the Eucharist becomes for us the food from heaven to nourish us in our pilgrimage to the Promised Land. He is the Word of God in person.
The Eucharist, therefore, is the bread of life given to us to cope with the long journey of life. The Eucharist will give us the strength to make the journey. The Lord does not abandon us to walk alone. He wants to be with us in our journey. He wants to live in us. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:56). Christ wants to share our destiny by absorbing us.
How then could the Eucharist be bread for our journey?
The Eucharist which is a memorial of His passion, death and resurrection therefore is the means by which we are reminded of God’s love and mercy for us. In His life, works and words, particularly, the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord, Jesus shows us the mercy, love and compassion of God. Most of all, He showed how God has overcome sin and death. This is what Moses told the people too, “Do not then forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; who guided you through this vast and dreadful wilderness, a land of fiery serpents, scorpions, thirst; who in this waterless place brought you water from the hardest rock.”
By celebrating the Eucharist, we live from Jesus and in Jesus. “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him.” This happens when we open our minds to hear His Word which is the new manna from heaven. His word is the bread of life because no one can live without the Word of God to guide him. The Eucharist is the food from heaven. “This is the bread come down from heaven; not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.” Indeed, how great is our God who has made “his word known to Jacob, to Israel his laws and decrees. He has not dealt thus with other nations; he has not taught them his decrees.”
But beyond just giving us His word, the Word has become flesh in Jesus who is now personally present in the Eucharist. We speak of His real presence in the Eucharist. This is not surprising as the Eucharist after His resurrection is the prolongation of the incarnation. This is made possible by the same Holy Spirit who incarnated the second person of the Trinity and through Him, Jesus was raised from the dead. The Holy Spirit as the third person of the Holy Trinity, who is the Gift of God in person, makes it possible that Jesus be given to us as the gift from God.
But His presence is not simply a static presence. Christ is truly and fully present among and in us. His presence is a dynamic presence in that when we receive Him, He assimilates us to Himself. In normal assimilation of food, the food we take is transformed into us. But in the Eucharist, the reverse takes place. Christ is the center who attracts us to Himself. We become one in Him and He transforms us all to Himself for He is greater than us. We become like Jesus. We become what we eat, the Body of Christ. Christ assimilates us to Himself and we are transformed in Him.
His presence comes to us not just in the bread but most of all in His Word. That is why the manna is also spoken of as the Word of God. The Eucharist is both the bread and the Word of God. Through His Word, we find inspiration and encouragement. It is the Word of God that can give us courage and direction in this journey of life. Indeed with the psalmist we say that the Eucharist remains our strength and fortress. “O praise the Lord, Jerusalem! Zion, praise your God! He has strengthened the bars of your gates, he has blessed the children within you. He established peace on your borders, he feeds you with finest wheat. He sends out his word to the earth and swiftly runs his command.”
Through the reception of the Bread of life and by receiving Him in the Word and in communion, we become brothers and sisters in Christ. The Eucharist brings unity among us. This is what the second reading is reminding us. “The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf.” As members of one body, we support each other in our journey. No one lacks anything because all things are shared with each other. Through the community, the Lord provides us with the strength to carry on. Indeed, this unity we share on earth, although imperfect, is a foretaste of the unity in heaven, which is what eternal life is all about.
In the final analysis, the Eucharist is the sacrament of unity with the Lord and with each other. We are never alone in this journey. The Eucharist builds the Church and a living Church celebrates the Eucharist. Together we encounter the Lord with each other. We receive Him in unity. Receiving the Eucharist, we must therefore not be divided. Expressions of good sentiments and desires are not sufficient. We need to take actions that make us more and more united in this journey of life.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh
SCRIPTURE READINGS: DT 8:2-3, 14-16; 1 COR 10:16-17; JN 6:51-58
http://www.universalis.com/20140622mass.htm
Our life, like the Israelites, is but a pilgrimage. They were in the desert for forty years before they could reach the Promised Land. And before that, they spent 400 years in Egypt, before leaving for the Promised Land.
But the long journey of life is necessary. In truth, life is the pedagogy of love; learning how to love like God. This was what Moses said to the people, “Remember how the Lord your God led you for forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, to test you and know your inmost heart – whether you would keep his commandments or not.” Sufferings in life are meant to help us grow and be purified. We cannot avoid sufferings in life. Even the letter to the Hebrews tells us that Jesus learnt obedience through suffering.
But more than just obedience through suffering, we are taught to become more aware of our limitations. It is through our suffering that we come to realize that we are not in control of life and that even if we have all the things in this life, we are not complete. Nothing in this world can satisfy us even if we can have everything. Indeed, our lives are not complete without God. If we suffer, it is because God wants us to realize that we are nothing without Him no matter what we have accomplished in life. Truly, many great people who do well in life, thinking they have everything in terms of career, wealth and status, come to recognize their limits when they face crises. Only then will they know that they are not so powerful after all, especially in the face of illness and death.
How, then, can we face the challenges of life? Where do we draw life and strength to face all these challenges of life?
God wanted the Israelites to come to appreciate that “man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 8:3) The provision of manna anticipates the Eucharist that the Lord will give to us all. While the manna could only sustain their physical life, the bread of life that Jesus gives would give us eternal life.
Indeed, Jesus alluded to this event of being the bread of life for the people when He said, “This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever” (John 6:58). Jesus by His incarnation and His prolongation of the Incarnation in the Eucharist becomes for us the food from heaven to nourish us in our pilgrimage to the Promised Land. He is the Word of God in person.
The Eucharist, therefore, is the bread of life given to us to cope with the long journey of life. The Eucharist will give us the strength to make the journey. The Lord does not abandon us to walk alone. He wants to be with us in our journey. He wants to live in us. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:56). Christ wants to share our destiny by absorbing us.
How then could the Eucharist be bread for our journey?
The Eucharist which is a memorial of His passion, death and resurrection therefore is the means by which we are reminded of God’s love and mercy for us. In His life, works and words, particularly, the passion, death and resurrection of the Lord, Jesus shows us the mercy, love and compassion of God. Most of all, He showed how God has overcome sin and death. This is what Moses told the people too, “Do not then forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; who guided you through this vast and dreadful wilderness, a land of fiery serpents, scorpions, thirst; who in this waterless place brought you water from the hardest rock.”
By celebrating the Eucharist, we live from Jesus and in Jesus. “For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him.” This happens when we open our minds to hear His Word which is the new manna from heaven. His word is the bread of life because no one can live without the Word of God to guide him. The Eucharist is the food from heaven. “This is the bread come down from heaven; not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.” Indeed, how great is our God who has made “his word known to Jacob, to Israel his laws and decrees. He has not dealt thus with other nations; he has not taught them his decrees.”
But beyond just giving us His word, the Word has become flesh in Jesus who is now personally present in the Eucharist. We speak of His real presence in the Eucharist. This is not surprising as the Eucharist after His resurrection is the prolongation of the incarnation. This is made possible by the same Holy Spirit who incarnated the second person of the Trinity and through Him, Jesus was raised from the dead. The Holy Spirit as the third person of the Holy Trinity, who is the Gift of God in person, makes it possible that Jesus be given to us as the gift from God.
But His presence is not simply a static presence. Christ is truly and fully present among and in us. His presence is a dynamic presence in that when we receive Him, He assimilates us to Himself. In normal assimilation of food, the food we take is transformed into us. But in the Eucharist, the reverse takes place. Christ is the center who attracts us to Himself. We become one in Him and He transforms us all to Himself for He is greater than us. We become like Jesus. We become what we eat, the Body of Christ. Christ assimilates us to Himself and we are transformed in Him.
His presence comes to us not just in the bread but most of all in His Word. That is why the manna is also spoken of as the Word of God. The Eucharist is both the bread and the Word of God. Through His Word, we find inspiration and encouragement. It is the Word of God that can give us courage and direction in this journey of life. Indeed with the psalmist we say that the Eucharist remains our strength and fortress. “O praise the Lord, Jerusalem! Zion, praise your God! He has strengthened the bars of your gates, he has blessed the children within you. He established peace on your borders, he feeds you with finest wheat. He sends out his word to the earth and swiftly runs his command.”
Through the reception of the Bread of life and by receiving Him in the Word and in communion, we become brothers and sisters in Christ. The Eucharist brings unity among us. This is what the second reading is reminding us. “The blessing-cup that we bless is a communion with the blood of Christ, and the bread that we break is a communion with the body of Christ. The fact that there is only one loaf means that, though there are many of us, we form a single body because we all have a share in this one loaf.” As members of one body, we support each other in our journey. No one lacks anything because all things are shared with each other. Through the community, the Lord provides us with the strength to carry on. Indeed, this unity we share on earth, although imperfect, is a foretaste of the unity in heaven, which is what eternal life is all about.
In the final analysis, the Eucharist is the sacrament of unity with the Lord and with each other. We are never alone in this journey. The Eucharist builds the Church and a living Church celebrates the Eucharist. Together we encounter the Lord with each other. We receive Him in unity. Receiving the Eucharist, we must therefore not be divided. Expressions of good sentiments and desires are not sufficient. We need to take actions that make us more and more united in this journey of life.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh