Bible
Study: 1st Kings 19:4-8. / Ephesians 4: 30-5:2. / John 6:41-51.
I recall
an incidence that happened a very long time ago. A seminarian was involved in
an accident while on his way to school. But before embarking on the journey,
his mother ensured he ate enough food to fill his stomach and when he asked his
mother, why she was virtually forcing him to eat, she said: “My boy, you need FOOD
FOR THE JOURNEY.” At the end of the day, he was thankful to his mum because had
it not been for that heavy meal, he could have died out of shock. At the end,
his mother was right, what she gave to him was not just a meal but really food
for the journey.
OUR GOD IS
A PROVIDER
Just like
the mother of this seminarian, God fed Elijah in our first reading today with food
for his journey – enough food – so much so that Elijah was able to walk for
forty days and forty nights without eating or fainting from hunger. God knew
that Elijah needed this food more than anything else and he gave it to him.
Once more, we are reminded of God’s Divine Providence as the psalmist sang
three Sundays ago: “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.”
DOES GOD
HEAR PRAYERS?
Then how
come Elijah prayed for death only for God to respond with food! What does this
tell us about God? Are there times you have prayed for something without
getting it? How did you feel? Dear friends, we serve a God who so loves us that
sometimes he prefers to answer our prayers with the very opposite of what we are
praying for. The next time you pray and you do not get what you pray for, just
be consoled by the story of Elijah. Could it be that at times, we ask God for death
even without knowing? Like a child asking his mother for knife without knowing
what harm the knife could do?
ONLY OBEDIENT
PEOPLE ARE FED.
Now imagine
you were Elijah and somebody woke you up in the middle of the night commanding
you to eat some delicious meal. How would you react? … Note that Elijah did not ask where this meal
came from, he did not even ask the Angel “who are you?” Or “Who sent you?” He
simply obeyed the instruction: “Take and Eat.”. Unlike the people of Jesus’
time, Elijah did not try to reason things out, he had enough faith to obey even
though he did not really know where or how this food was made. His obedience saved
his life!
THIS FOOD
FOR THE JOURNEY IS NOT ORDINARY FOOD.
The food
that Elijah ate that night was not ordinary food. In his mouth and to his
sight, it looked like “cake baked on hot stones and a jug of water.” But there
was more to that food. Have you ever eaten cake before? Or drank water? If yes,
then did it sustain you for forty days? If cake and water does not sustain even
a five-year old boy for forty days, then there must be something spiritual in
that particular cake that Elijah was given to eat. This is how we are to
approach the Holy Eucharist. It looks like bread and tastes like bread but
there is more to it. We would be making a mistake if we try to rationalize the
source of this bread
IF YOU EAT
THIS FOOD, YOU CAN NOT DIE.
The Holy
Eucharist is bread from heaven and food for our journey. As Jesus said to the
Jews who were murmuring against him: “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; whoever
eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh
for the life of the world.” Jesus Christ has come to give us his own body and
blood so that we may have life in us and not die of sin.
Romans
6:23 tells us “For the wages of sin is death.” Every time we sin, the life of
God in us dies and when we remain in sin, it soon reaches a point when we
completely die to God, this is the stage when the soul completely rejects God
and becomes deserving of eternal damnation. Holy Communion gives us life, first
we must be free of sin to receive it and when we do receive it in a state of
grace, God comes into our soul once again to rebuild our mortal nature and
increase our spiritual life. The more we receive Holy Communion, the more we
find life for our souls and the more we get closer to God but the more we
abstain from Holy Communion because of sin, the more the light of God dies
inside of us.
WHAT IS
STOPPING YOU FROM EATING THE FOOD FOR YOUR JOURNEY?
If there
is anything keeping you away from Holy Communion, today God is asking you to do
something about it. Is it because you are not in the state of grace? Then make
efforts to go to confession and repent completely from that sin or habit that constantly
keeps you from receiving Holy Communion. Is it because you are yet to go
through the catechism classes and be properly instructed? Then please, register
with the Catechist today and start attending classes. Or is it because your marriage
is not yet rectified in the church? Then register with the Catechist today and
start the process.
I feel sad
whenever I hear people make comments such as “I would have loved to receive
Holy Communion oh…but I just don’t have the time for all that stressful
process, I don’t have time to attend catechism class, I don’t have time for
marriage class. Or I hear people say, I was baptised but I can’t find my
baptismal card and I don’t have time to start going to the church where I was
baptised to look for it.”
Dear friends,
if you don’t have the time to go through the rigors of the church for Holy
Communion, what do you have time for? If your job is more important than
receiving Holy Communion, then how deep is your trust in God? Is it your job
that will sustain you in life or God that you are able to receive in Holy
Communion? It just reminds me how Jesus said: “Man shall not live on bread
alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” If you can afford to
go through the stress of going to work every day from 8am to 5pm or more as the
case may be. If you can afford to spend long hours day and night on your
business because you know the value of the money that you are making, then what
is there in attending a 1-hour class twice a week so as to receive Holy
Communion that is more valuable than all the millions in the world. Do you plan
to die an eternal death? Jesus has told us today, “If you eat this bread, you
will live forever” meaning, even if you die physically, you will continue to
live. Can any amount be placed on this kind of life? What shall it profit you
if you give all the time to making money and never received Holy Communion only
for you to lose your soul at the end?
DO NOT
MAKE GOD SAD.
Dear
Friends in Christ, it is not enough to just receive Holy Communion hoping that
everything ends there. Each time we receive Holy Communion, God comes to dwell
inside of us and like a guest in our home, we can either make him welcome or
unwelcome, we can either drive him as fast as possible away or make him dwell
inside of us forever. It is very simple. And this is why St. Paul in our second
reading today admonishes us: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God in whom you
were sealed for the day of redemption.” Do not make God in you sad! How do we
make God sad? By allowing bitterness, anger, slander, malice to reign in our
heart. How dare you receive Holy Communion and still carry bitterness for your neighbour
inside your mind? How dare you receive God who is love in your heart and still
find a space for hatred inside that same heart? Can love and hate dwell side by
side? Can you invite both God and Satan into your home at the same time? What
business has light to do with darkness?
CONCLUSION.
Instead, “Be
kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ
forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in
love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us…” When you receive Holy
Communion, you are receiving Jesus Christ body and blood made possible by the
sacrifice he made for u on the cross. You are sharing in a sacrifice! So Holy
Communion should make you willing to make sacrifice for others. Holy Communion
should make you love others with a sincere heart. Holy Communion should teach
you how to sacrifice for others by inconveniencing yourself for their sake. If God
has freely given us this food to sustain our spiritual life without charge to
get to heaven, then let us make the best use of it and it may truly lead us to
heaven.
Let us
pray:
Lord
Jesus, as I eat of you, make me worthy of your presence in my heart and may no
bitterness and hate ever dwell in there. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. Happy
Sunday.
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