Homily, 8-7-23; Monday of the 18th Week of Ordinary Time:
Since my heart surgery and stroke four years ago, I have been on medication to control my cholesterol. Prior to that I struggled, to control it with diet and exercise with varying levels of success. On one occasion many years ago, I went to the doctor for a physical and received the news that my cholesterol had spiked considerably. The doctor immediately wanted to prescribe medication, but I convinced him to give me three months to bring down my levels by diet and exercise. A big part of my approach was eating oatmeal for breakfast every day. After three months I reached my goal, but this daily oatmeal regimen had become quite tiresome.
And then I thought of the people I had met in Haiti who were happy to have simply a small portion of rice to eat each and every day. I thought of the Israelites who ate manna for 40 years in the desert. And I realized that eating a daily bowl of oatmeal was a pretty small sacrifice compared to what the Haitians and Israelites had to endure. I ate oatmeal to improve my health and maybe extend my life. The people of Haiti eat rice and the Israelites ate manna simply to survive; to maintain their physical lives. We hear in Deuteronomy that “not by bread alone does one live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.”
We need food to maintain our physical lives, but we also need the word of God to sustain our spiritual lives. The bible is like a large loaf of bread that gives us sustenance. To help us digest it a little bit more easily, the Church breaks that loaf into smaller, bite-sized, morsels and offers them to us in the Liturgy of the Word when we come to Mass on Sunday and during the week. We are slowly fed most of the Bible over the three-year cycle of readings the Church has developed. Eating oatmeal, or rice, or manna is important for our physical well-being even though their taste can become tiresome. Consuming the word of God is important for our spiritual well-being, even though sometimes we find it tiresome or don’t like the taste of the message.
We come to Mass and consume rich fare at the table of God’s word. And then we consume the Word of God Himself at the altar, the table of the Eucharist. I saw a quote from St. Ambrose a few weeks ago in the Office of the Readings and posted in on Facebook. He wrote: “Consider now which is the more excellent: the bread of angels or the flesh of Christ, which is indeed the body that gives life. The first was manna from heaven, the second is above the heavens. One was of heaven, the other is of the Lord of the heavens; one subject to corruption if it was kept till the morrow, the other free from all corruption, for if anyone tastes of it with reverence he will be incapable of corruption (St. Ambrose).”
Jesus came down from heaven and offered His life for our salvation; to atone for the sin of Adam and Eve. And when we reflect on that original sin of Adam and Eve we see another story about food. It ties in well with our theme for today. Adam and Eve were not satisfied with the food God had given them. They were unwilling to listen to the word of God. Like us, God had given them much more than they deserved. They were doing better than they deserved and yet they wanted more. How often do we act this way? They wanted to be like God, and so they listened to Satan, and disobeyed God, and ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
We have the opportunity to receive the gift that Adam and Eve sought after way back in the Garden of Eden. We can share in Christ’s divinity. When we participate in the Body and Blood of Christ, we become one with Christ and one with each other.
Come to Mass with a healthy appetite. No calories or cholesterol here, only pure nutrition. Be hungry to consume God’s message for you as you listen to His words in scripture. Be hungry for the Body and Blood of Christ so that Jesus will be in you and you in Him. This food will sustain you and give you the strength to follow His Father’s commands. This food will give us eternal life. We will be doing much better than we deserve.