Food: Tuesday
Jesus comes to us as food in the Eucharist, and he’s truly present in the bread and wine. But even before that, he is present in the breaking open of the bread of scripture. And he’s present in the gathered community.
– Br. James Koester, SSJE
Way of Love: Daily Practice
Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” For what do you hunger?
Share your experience in the comments below
these posts this week about Eucharist feel a bit tone deaf, as most of us are unable to partake right now.
Two ideas came to mind in this time of cancellations of gatherings and services.One is from the past and one from the present. In the period between the two world wars , the French priest Teihiard de Chardin was forbidden to celebrate the Eucharist by the French ecclesiastical authorities. He was, I think, in China pursuing his other vocation as a physical anthropologist . Each dawn when the sun rose he offered it as the wafer consecrated to God. In the present, our bishop in Western Mass. is offering Compline on line at 8 p.m. for all, another form of community for the present age.
I really love the Signs of Life meditation series. The videos are particularly well done, both the words, images and editing. Kudos to all involved in the creation of these Spirit-inspired videos. They and the daily emails, featuring quotes from the video discussions have filled me, along with the Daily Lectionary and a book of Lenten meditations written by parishioners of my church (St. Peter’s Beverly), which are based on the readings.
Wow, today’s psalm, Psalm 78, is filled with references to earthly and heavenly food, along with a retelling of the Exodus. Here are some verses that jumped out at me:
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
verse 1
Mortals ate the bread of angels….
verse 25a
And they ate and were well filled,
for he gave them what they craved.
verse 29
Despite God’s anger, the psalm says that He showed compassion.
He remembered that they were but flesh,
a wind that passes and does not come again.
verse 39
Genesis 45, about the reconciliation of Joseph with his brothers, is filled with references to hunger, famine and food for life!
To view these images of the Eucharist at this point in time is like looking at a familiar landscape across a deep ravine. We see Br James lift and break the Bread and hear him say that we too share in the brokenness.To actually live through this time of brokenness is to me a gift because I will never experience the Eucharist in quite the same way ever again. Just to see and hear these images and sounds today is a great blessing. Thank you—Thank you—-Thank you!
Brother James said that we are not only hungry for food but also for good news. Some else said that in the Eucharist, we are fed what we need, even if not what we sometimes crave. Likewise, although the Good News that we are given is what we need, it might not always be the news that we crave. Even in our disappointment in not getting the news we crave, may God’s grace open our minds and hearts to the News that we need.