19th Sunday OT, Year B
Deacon Albert
St. John the Evangelist Cathedral
What a summer! ISIS still on rampage, a Supreme Court decision, shootings, constant political bickering, gut-wrenching undercover videos, financial chaos in Europe, and our own slump in the oil field … did I miss anything? Isn’t summer supposed to be a time of vacation and rest? But sports, school, and politics are just getting started – time, ordinary time doesn’t stop and the demands just keep coming. I don’t think I’m alone in wanting to shout to the heavens with Elijah: “This is enough, O Lord!” Maybe we even take a look at the state of the world and think “take my life, for I am no better than my fathers…” They couldn’t fix poverty, education, the environment, or corruption in politics either and we don’t seem to be doing any better – so what’s the point?
Heck, Elijah had just called down fire from heaven, gotten rid of the wicked and corrupt pagan priests, and ended a massive drought when we find him in our first reading resting under a tree. Even after all of that, the queen wanted him dead and no one else seemed to think that following the True God was important. Can we blame him for wanting to give up? And how does God respond? No, you’re not done yet, get up, eat, get moving. And God says the same to us now.
This is what I want to tell you, what the Lord wants to tell you now. Get up! Eat “the bread that came down from heaven” or “else the journey will be too much for you.” 40 is the number of purification – when the bible uses the number 40, as in Elijah’s journey, it is telling us that we are in for some rough times, but that these rough times will open up to something bigger, brighter, better. 40 days of rain cleansed the world for Noah. 40 years in the desert purified the Jews so they could go to the Promised Land. 40 days of temptation for Jesus led to his proclamation of eternal life, and the 40 days of Lent always lead to the glorious joy of Easter.
We can see the spiritual meaning of our life on Earth in Elijah’s 40 day Journey to God’s mountain – persecution has already started and it is going to increase, but God has sent angels, messengers, to give us the food and drink that we need to make this journey. When Elijah completes his journey, he encounters God on the mountain in a tiny whispering sound. God comes to him, comforts him, and tells him that he is not actually alone – there are others who are still faithful to God, still faithful to the Truth.
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” What a gift! Because Christ said so, through the sacraments of His Church, mere human beings are given the ability to bring God into our lives as food to sustain us on our journey. And yet, how do so many respond? Do we not know his father and mother? Do we not know the Bishop’s father and mother, the priest’s? Do we not know all the corrupt bishops, imperfect priests, and sinful deacons? Then how can they say, ‘I have come down from Heaven?’ How can they dare to tell us what God thinks about the environment? About the moment of conception, the importance of solidarity, or marriage? Who are they to say that I’m not supposed to receive communion?
“Stop murmuring among yourselves!” Jesus cries out, “quit fighting it, I’m trying to give you good news, I’m trying to help you realize what I’m about to give you. Don’t you get it, this is about real strength, real help, it’s not about public opinion and it’s not about comfort! Yes, you know all about the humanity of the Church and her ministers, but that’s just it. Jesus really is the son of Mary and he really is human, but he is not just human and neither is the Church.
But you know that, don’t you! Here you are in the Catholic Church, putting up with my preaching, and patiently waiting for the chance to receive this precious bread. I’m not here to fuss at you. No, I want to remind you of the gift you have received; I want to strengthen you – do not despair when the media, your co-workers, your friends, and even your own flesh and blood challenge you on these beliefs. You are not alone.
The Church is not just human; she is also empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. Notice that “grieving the Holy Spirit” is equal to sins against other members of the Church. This is Spirit you received in Baptism and Confirmation. The same Holy Spirit “with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Did you hear that? You were sealed with the Holy Spirit, the spirit that IS Love. Permanently branded by Love and God’s power – by the exact same Holy Spirit we call upon in the Eucharistic Prayer which turns ordinary bread into the “living bread” so that you “may eat it and not die.” The Holy Spirit that raised Christ’s body from the dead, that empowered the Apostles to speak every language at once, that inspired the biblical authors to write Scripture and the Church to recognize it. [1]
Christ tells us that “everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me” and that no “one has seen the Father except the one who is from God.” But, later in the same Gospel, he tells his Apostles that “whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). He also explains that “whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me” (Jn 13:20). The Apostles saw Christ and were sent by Christ to continue Christ’s mission of revealing the Father and granting eternal life to those who believe. These Apostles passed on their mission and it is carried on even today in their successors.
We know that, when Christ says “They shall all be taught by God,” he is not talking about a magical apparition to people everywhere… he is talking about the way that God, the Holy Spirit, works through the Church. What a gift that we have a Church that can teach God’s people, that can give them the Holy Spirit and bring them the Eucharist. Whoever obeys Christ’s command and receives him and his teaching is empowered by God himself to carry on the very work of God. We see the results of this in the thousands of canonized saints and millions of unknown saints throughout history [2]–men and women who clung lovingly to the Church’s teaching and sacraments. Thomas More, Gianna Mola, Isidore the Farmer, St. John Paul II – these men and women had something in common. They were not alone, but were supported by a community, they clung to the teaching of the Apostles… they were rooted in the Church. And God did not abandon them. Even when they were killed, sometimes in brutal ways, they lost nothing but instead now share in the eternal life promised by Christ.
The Holy Spirit seals us, the Holy Spirit works through us to give us the living bread, and the Holy Spirit is our strength. It isn’t up to us, we aren’t on our own. So take courage, we have the Church, we have God Himself! If you feel harassed and weary… if you are unwilling to face the drudgery of another 40 days… another 40 years in the desert of this life, then… Get up and Eat! Taste and See the goodness of the Lord! The goodness that feeds you, that keeps you going, that enables you to do more than survive… to truly “live,” the goodness that can make you, yes you, into saints.
[1] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03274a.htm[2] http://www.catholic.org/saints/faq.php