Reflection
In the Eucharist Jesus is true Body and true Blood, real food for the journey. This is the divine banquet to which we are all invited.
In the first reading from the book of Proverbs, it is Wisdom that invites the ignorant and the fools to leave their folly by the wayside and join in her banquet. When we share in the divine banquet we become wise as we get to encounter God himself. In the gospel reading, Jesus points out that the manna the Israelites of old ate in the desert, was only a distant image of the true food that Jesus himself can give us. The ancestors of the Israelites ate of the manna and died. We who share in the divine banquet of the Eucharist will never die, because in the Eucharist we share in the divine life only God can give us.
Jesus is the new Wisdom who invites us to eat of the true bread that has come down from heaven, and this bread is the nourishing food that will lead us to eternal life.
Further reading
In the third preface provided in the Missal for the Sundays in Ordinary Time, we read: “You provide us, weak creatures, with help from our own weak nature.” The history of the Church provides us with many examples of saints who, in their own life, illustrated the deep truth contained in these words. There is no need to elaborate on the miserable years of the young Augustine of Hippo, however, when he encountered God, his deep yearning for intimacy, for a shared life, for communion, which had earlier expressed itself in deviant paths, now found a new way of expressing itself. In his ‘Rules’ Augustine often emphasised the need for unity and of brotherhood, giving rise to the Augustinian charism of unity. On top of Augustine’s yearning for intimacy, God planted the charism of unity.
In his reasons for and against his choice of vocation to the priesthood and of living at St Joseph’s Orphanage, the Servant of God Joseph De Piro, provides us with another manifestation of this truth: God manifests his power in and through our weakness. In the two discernment exercises mentioned above, Joseph mentions his limitations:
It seems there was also another weakness: De Piro was aware of the challenges and difficulties that lay ahead of him if he opted for a celibate life in the priesthood. He mentioned the animal instinct that draws him to members of the opposite sex. This, however, was not a handicap to his full development as a person, nor did it hinder the emotional dimension of his life. God’s charism in his life enabled him to channel so much energy and time and concern on behalf of so many: he loved God, he loved himself, and he loved his neighbour, especially the one in need of material things or of the Good News.