Signs of God's Care

Dali's Sacrament of the Last Supper

The word of God takes us back to the exodus or escape of the Hebrews from their oppressors in ancient Egypt. The Hebrews are now in the wilderness, hungry and thirsty. But God, always keeping his promises, miraculously provides food: quails (probably some kind of low-flying migratory bird) and manna (probably a substance from a desert shrub).

The author may be asking whether we recognize signs of God’s care in our everyday lives.

In the Gospel according to John, Jesus says: “I am the bread of life.” Elsewhere, Jesus says: I am the light of the world; I am the good shepherd; the vine; the resurrection; the way, the truth, the life; the door to heaven. These “I am” sayings allude to the 3rd chapter in the Book of Exodus, where Moses asks God who He is. And God responds: “I am the One who causes to be everything that is.”

Jesus’s “I am” sayings allude to his divinity. Yes, the God-man Jesus became one of us to satisfy our deepest hungers.

Today's word of God alludes to three moments in our salvation history:
the Hebrew Exodus;
the 1st century passage of Jesus into glory;
and this Eucharistic celebration.

Each of these is an exodus, a departure, a going outward:
the escape of the Hebrews from Egypt;
Jesus’s passage from earthly life into eternal life;
and our own going out from the Eucharistic celebration to serve.

The escape of the Hebrews is a prototype of our liberation. Jews in the Seder raise their cups to proclaim: “It is our duty to thank, praise … and adore the God who did all of these miracles for our forebears and for ourselves. He has brought us forth … from darkness to a great light, and from subjection to redemption.”

A second critical historical moment is when Jesus at the Last Supper began his passage from earthly life through the darkness of death into a new indescribable heavenly reality. Every Eucharist rekindles the expectation of our liberation: we pray: “until He comes again.” In the Our Father we ask “Thy kingdom come.”

A third critical moment in salvation history is today's Eucharistic celebration. Jesus at the last supper washed the feet of the disciples--an example of service. As I have done, Jesus says, so must you do. The bread we eat/the cup we drink is meant to create a more vibrant faith community. St. Paul wrote: “Because the bread is one, we, though many, are one Body; for we all partake of the one bread.”

Just as Jesus Christ was a transformation agent, God calls us to be agents of change for the better, His co-workers, building up the kingdom of God until Christ comes again in glory at the end-time. We must do our best to transform prejudice into fairness, hate into peace, indifference into compassion, sorrow into joy, despair into hope, loneliness into community.

Let us go forth from this Eucharist today to do all the good we can, for all the people we can, as long as ever we can.