RBWords

 

     "Manna in the desert!..." has become an expression in English, at least, to describe the relief one feels upon receiving something badly needed.  However, the scene in today's first scripture is one of those dramatic moments in the long saga of the Children of Israel.  Forgotten is their deliverance.  Hunger is an affliction of the present moment!  God provides quail and "manna."  They will complain about this later on, but right now this food is what keeps them alive out in the desert.  It would be celebrated in worship by the Jewish community in Psalm 78:24.

 

     For the early Christian community, in its effort to understand all that Jesus had commanded to be done in his memory, the manna in the desert became a "type" for the Eucharist.  The Gospel of John, especially, alludes to this in Jesus' "bread of life" discourse:  "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.  Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die  I am the living bread that came down from heaven...."

 

     All of this history and meaning can easily escape us at the celebration of the Eucharist.  We have many things on our mind.  The children of Israel and the bread of life discourse may not be in our consciousness as we shuffle up in the 'communion line' at Mass.  Yet, every one of the seven sacraments unites us in a great story of God's providence.  If the story of the quail and manna can make us hungry for more than our next meal, and perhaps for the "bread of life," we can be grateful for those great sages who wrote it down for us so long ago.  AMEN