Have you ever had one of those mornings when you were running a little behind schedule to get to work or school or an important appointment and you just grabbed a piece of toast or maybe skipped breakfast all-together? Then – well before lunch time, you felt the consequences of that decision. You noticed your energy level was dropping; it was hard to concentrate, to be productive, to complete the tasks at hand. And, if you were struggling with any particular matter, you might have felt like Elijah in today’s first reading – you just wanted to lie down and go to sleep. But, you had things to do and you pressed forward, maybe with the help of a piece of chocolate or a power bar or a cup of coffee, extra strong.
As our bodies require physical food to accomplish our daily tasks, our spiritual lives also need nourishment if we are to do what God has in store for us as we journey through this life to eternity. We see a good example of this in today’s first reading from the First Book of Kings. We’re all familiar with the story of the great prophet Elijah and his battle against the evil Israelite king, Ahab, and his even more evil wife, Jezebel. Earlier, in this First Book of Kings, we read a summary of the reign of Ahab; it goes like this: “Ahab did what was evil in the Lord’s sight more than any of his predecessors.” Pretty strong language, isn’t it!?! One of the worst things Ahab did was to marry Jezebel, who was a daughter of the king of the Sidonians. Under Jezebel’s influence, Ahab then began to set up altars to worship the Sidonian god, Baal, and he called the people of Israel to worship this pagan god. The First Book of Kings goes on to recount how Elijah freed the people from this false worship and had the prophets of Baal killed – all 450 of them! Of course, you can imagine that Ahab and Jezebel were not happy about this. The story picks up in today’s reading, where we hear that Elijah is fleeing from Jezebel, who has threatened to kill him. After escaping into the desert, Elijah actually prays for death. I imagine a few of you have offered a similar prayer in times of distress. But, God still had great plans for Elijah. So, He sent food and drink to strengthen Elijah and an angel to awaken him from his slumber, not just once but twice. Today’s reading ends with the statement that Elijah “got up, ate and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.” If you were to continue to read the story, you would learn that Elijah had a vision of God on Mount Horeb, anticipating the Beatific Vision we are all promised when we get to heaven. And there, God called him to select another prophet – even more powerful than he – to continue to speak for God to the people of Israel. He was led to Elisha, who was given double his prophetic power.
It’s quite a story and an important lesson for us as we struggle each day to understand and then do God’s will in our lives as we make our journey to eternal life.
And, whereas Elijah received bread and water to give him physical strength, we are blessed to receive bread and wine, changed into the Body and Blood of Christ every time we receive Holy Communion, for spiritual strength. In today’s Gospel, we hear the wondrous pronouncement that God the Father provides that spiritual sustenance in Jesus, “the bread of life.” The Father draws us to Jesus that we may believe in him, follow his way during this life, and through him reach our final goal: eternal life with God. With infinite grace and mercy, God offers us the invitation to eternal life and gives us the means to respond: his son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.
In much the same way as God provided for Elijah – as we heard in today’s first reading – God supplied manna to the Israelites even earlier to sustain them on their Exodus journey to the Promised Land. In today’s Gospel, Jesus is speaking to the crowd who are following him, in part, because they have witnessed the miracle of the loaves and fishes that we heard about just two weeks ago. He reminds them that on the Exodus journey their “ancestors ate the manna in the desert” but they died because that was just physical food. Jesus goes on to tell the crowd that what they were experiencing in his presence was more than just the physical food they received in the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fish. God was providing for them in Jesus, “the living bread,” that was able to sustain them on their spiritual journey and lead them eternal life.
In today’s Gospel, we hear God’s invitation for us to partake of “the bread that comes down from heaven” and to be nourished on our spiritual journey. We are thankful first, of course, for the Eucharist where we receive Christ’s Body and Blood in communion with all the faithful around the world. And we are mindful of Jesus’ presence in all of the sacraments celebrated in our community life. And, we remember that, unlike Elijah, who just experienced the presence of God for a few minutes in the whispering wind on Mount Horeb, we are being nourished as we prepare to experience God’s presence forever in heaven. In and through Jesus, God nourishes us to continue his mission, loving and serving all of our brothers and sisters, accomplishing the plan God has for each of us here on earth until that time when he calls us to join him for all eternity in his heavenly banquet. How blessed we are!