Today’s readings provide us with a long list of gifts that we receive from God. God feeds us, wipes away our tears, removes the threat of eternal death, and saves us. As our shepherd, God gives us rest, leads and guides us, refreshes us, gives us courage, anoints us, surrounds us with goodness and kindness, and provides a place for us in God’s house. Jesus cures and heals, is concerned about the people and feeds them lest they faint from hunger. We are blessed beyond our imagining. It is so important to remember all of these things in our daily prayer of thanksgiving, the Eucharist.
Both of the readings and the responsorial psalm list all of these blessings. There is one common blessing mentioned in all of these passages; namely, food.
If there is anything we like to talk about more than food, it is a reference to our concern about our weight and dieting – two ends of the spectrum. So we should not be surprised that the Scriptures talk about food so often. After all, the Scriptures are written in our language and about our concerns.
Although we eat and drink at the table of God at every Eucharist, this food and drink is different than the food we enjoy at our dinner or kitchen tables. This nourishment is for the whole person, body and soul. We begin by the nourishment that we receive in God’s Word and then by the very Body and Blood of Jesus. When God made a decision about how we would be reminded that God is always with us, God chose food as the best reminder. It wasn’t God’s first choice.
First God chose a rainbow as a reminder. The rainbow faded, so God showed Abraham the stars and used them as a reminder of God’s continuous presence in our lives. However, as bright city lights blotted out the stars of night, God chose tablets of stone to remind us that we were loved. The people asked for a different reminder – a king. Each successive reminder failed in the task of reminding God’s people of God’s desire to live among them. The last choice was the one that did the trick. Food is such an ever present reality in our human lives that Jesus chose it as a reminder of God’s presence in our spiritual lives as well. So it is that we gather at the table of the Lord to eat and drink and thereby proclaim God’s everlasting love.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator