Word to the Wise
Monday, April 23, 2012 - 3rd Week of Easter - Mon
[Acts 6:8-15 and John 6:22-29]Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the leaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal." So they said to him, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent."
This past Saturday afternoon I was invited to assist at the celebration of First Communions at a parish north of Houston. There were about 80 children to "make their first communion," and this was only part of the class! About 5 minutes before we began, the associate pastor, who was in charge, asked me to preach! I had to do some fast thinking but the subject was not a hard one. As a pastor on these occasions I have always addressed myself to the children and on this occasion I spoke to the whole idea of FIRST and COMMUNION.
The children know that they are doing something for the first time that they were NOT able to do before. It is important not only because it is the FIRST time, but also because it should be the first of MANY times. The "many" times are about COMMUNION. They will now have a relationship with Jesus AND the community that they did not have before.
The gospel passage for the occasion was taken from the "bread of life" discourse, which begins today and will be featured as the gospel scripture for some days to come. Today's passage speaks to the core of that message. The audience is still thinking about the bread they received in the multiplication of the loaves. Jesus challenges them to move beyond the physical bread and even the "sign" of bread to realize that it is HE who is the bread of life. To do the "work" of God is to believe in Jesus. For those children, perhaps the most that be expected is that they recognize that the host they receive is sacred and is the presence of Jesus. It will take awhile to realize that Jesus' presence is more than the host that is external to them (the "sign"). It is the relationship that counts - to believe in the one whom God has sent. Perhaps we adults should go back and take a closer look at this and experience another "first communion." AMEN