#manna

“Le ricchezze sono come la manna, di cui era solo permesso raccoglierne quanto n’esigesse il bisogno; che se alcun poco ne fosse stata raccolta di sovrappiù, essa si corrompeva.” San Carlo Borromeo

Bitter-Sweet As the people move on from the Red Sea crossing, they search for water but find none in the desert for three days, until they come to a place they name Marah, the name is a play on the Hebrew for bitter.  There is something off about the water, it tastes bitter.  The people begin to grumble, “what are we going to drink now?” They demand of Moses.  Under YHWH’s guidance he throws a…

HOMILY for 3rd Wed of Easter

Acts 7:51-8:1a; Ps 30; John 6:30-35

The word manna literally means ‘What is this?’ for the Jews in the wilderness marvelled and wondered at the substance that appeared every morning, a gift from heaven, to sustain the people of God on their journey through the desert. But Christ is the true Bread from Heaven, that is to say the heavenly manna. For as St Thomas Aquinas rightly says, “Nothing is more a source of wonder than the Son of God made man, so that everyone can fittingly ask, “What is this?” That is, how can the Son of God be the Son of Man? How can Christ be one person with two natures?… It is also a cause for wonder how Christ can be present in the sacrament.”

So every Eastertide we read once more the 6th chapter of St John, and we are brought year after year before the wonder of the Eucharist. What is this? Or rather, Who is this? It is, surely, Love alone who does such things, giving all of himself to us, and for us. And only divine Love can do this, satisfying the deepest hunger and thirst of the human heart, which is a desire for life, for goodness, for beauty and truth. Only God can give himself so completely without thereby exhausting himself for God is infinite and pure spirit. Hence St Thomas says that “When material bread is eaten, it does not permanently take away our hunger, since it must be destroyed in order to build us up; and this is necessary if we are to be nourished. But spiritual bread, which gives life of itself, is never destroyed… nor do [spiritual goods] run out; and consequently the fulness they produce remains forever.” 

So What is this that we receive? It is the down payment of eternal life, that fullness of life that is found in a loving union with God forever; it is the seed of immortality, as Tertullian calls the Eucharist. For Who is it that gives himself to us? St Augustine answers, “I seemed to hear God’s voice from on high: ‘I am the food of the mature; grow then, and you will eat me. You will not change me into yourself like bodily food; but you will be changed into me’”. But what does it mean that the Eucharist is the food of the mature? 

It seems that those who are immature in their faith, like the crowd in the Gospel, seek visible signs and marvels like the manna that fell from heaven. But the Eucharist, as St Thomas says, “cannot be detected by the senses, nor by intellectual understanding, but by faith alone, which rests upon divine authority.” In other words, this Sacrament, this  mysterium fidei calls for true faith, which is to trust in the word of Christ who, as God, “can neither deceive nor be deceived”. So, when asking ‘What is this?’, we have our answer from the Lord: “This is My Body; this is My Blood”. And we are invited daily to place our trust in his goodness and love which will not fail us. 

The dramatic account of St Stephen’s martyrdom reminds us of what this kind of mature faith entails: a fortitude to follow Christ to the end, even in sharing in his kind of death. Thus the martyrs commend themselves to the Father knowing that, having been changed into Christ through grace and the Eucharist, so they will also be partakers in divine life. 

👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾🐇

I also saw a white rabbit jumping off a helicopter 🚁 Perhaps the term “follow the white rabbit” 🐰 might mean something to someone. The rabbit could be someone who you helped escape.