How many have been watching the Tokyo Olympics? I’m thoroughly enjoying them. We see men and women performing extraordinary feats, working and sacrificing to achieve goals. But it can be very stressful for a "star" athlete to balance a so-called three-legged stool of physical health, mental health, and spiritual health.
The Word of God takes us back to the 13th century exodus of the Hebrews from their oppressors in ancient Egypt. The freed Hebrews are in the wilderness, hungry and thirsty and complaining to God. Life with our oppressors, the Hebrews say, was better than this.
God, always faithful to his promises, provides food: quails (probably some low-flying migratory bird) and manna (likely a substance from a shrub). Many Hebrews recognized in these signs God’s incredible care for them.
The author may be asking us whether we recognize the signs of God’s care for us in our everyday lives.
Paul in his letter to the Christians at Ephesus speaks about us as new creatures who must live the virtues of the new self. God abides in us and we in God. Yes, God has transformed us into living temples and calls us through baptism to manifest God's glory in our everyday attitudes and behaviors.
The Gospel according to John highlights one of the “I am” sayings of Jesus: “I am the bread of life.” Jesus tells us: I am the light of the world; the good shepherd; the vine; the resurrection; the way, the truth, the life; the door to heaven.
These seven “I am” phrases, alluding to Jesus's divinity, refer to the 3rd chapter in Book of Exodus, where Moses asks God who He is. God responds: “I am the One who causes to be everything that is.”
Yes, the God-man Jesus, the bread of life, became one of us to satisfy our spiritual hunger for God. The Gospel then reflects on God’s most splendid gift of wonder: the Eucharist.
Today’s word of God alludes to three moments in our salvation history:
the 13th century BC Hebrew exodus
from Egypt;
the 1st century passage of Jesus from this earthly
life through death into eternal glory;
and today's Eucharist, with our own going out to serve one another.
The Hebrew exodus is a prototype of our deliverance from death. Jews in the Seder service 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 moment in our salvation
history is when Jesus at the Last Supper began his exodus from this earthly life through death into a new heavenly
reality. Every Eucharist rekindles the expectation of our final deliverance:
Jesus will come again in glory. We
pray: “until He comes again.” And: “Thy
kingdom come.”
A third critical moment is today's Eucharist. Jesus at the last supper washed the feet of the disciples--an example of his many services. As I have done, Jesus says, so must you do. Jesus acts out a gesture which we are to imitate in our lives: serving others.
The bread we eat is meant to grow us into a 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.” The living Christ nourishes us as He does countless disciples around the globe.
Yes, the Eucharist challenges us to go outward to become, as best we can, “transformational.” Just as Jesus Christ was an agent of transformation in salvation history, God calls us to be his co-workers, agents of change building up the kingdom of God until Jesus Christ comes again.
