19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

            When I was a junior in college I had the blessing to take a road trip to Banff, Canada with three of my cross country teammates.  We were looking for adventures to do and we found one—a three mile hike that brought us to the summit of a mountain.  The front of this mountain was a sheer cliff—a 2,000 or 3,000 foot drop—but there was a path that went up the back side of it.

            The guy at the information booth, as with the brochure about this trail, called for the round trip to take 7-8 hours.  We were cross country runners and thought, “7-8 hours?!  Try 3-4 for us!”  We were dead wrong.

            200 yards from the summit, as we were scrambling on all fours to proceed, we ran out of water.  By the time we reached the top we only had a few handfuls of Craisins to eat.  What I would have given to have an angel appear with bread and water as this was probably the hungriest, and certainly the thirstiest, I have ever been.

            As we continue to walk through John 6, we hear of another excellent parallel between the Old Testament and the New.  Over the past few weeks we were reminded of the multiplication of the loaves by Elisha and the manna in the desert.  Today we learn about Elijah, who was also fed from a miraculous source.  An angel of the Lord commanded him to take and eat twice, “lest the journey be too long.”  He did and proceeded to walk 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb, the mountain of God.

            What else is the Eucharist but the food for our journey?  Like Elijah, we are told to take and eat, otherwise our earthly travels would be too long and arduous for us.

            Another cool fact about Elijah is that, at the end of his life, he was taken up in a chariot of fire.  He ate the miraculous food and was caught up into heaven.  This, too, happens when we receive Communion.  We are caught up at Mass, not in a chariot of fire, but the fire of God’s love, and experience heaven kissing earth.

            Jesus maintains, despite murmurings—“I am the bread of life.”  For the first time he explicitly says, “The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”  Jesus gives us His Body and Blood, first on the cross, then in the Eucharist, for us to be fed each Sunday or even daily.

            We have heard some pretty amazing feeding stories recently—Elisha’s multiplication, the manna in the desert, Elijah being fed by an angel and even Jesus’ multiplication of the loaves and fishes.  Yet these are only hints or foreshadowings of what we receive in comparison.  None of these physical feedings can touch the glory of the spiritual banquet of the Eucharist.

            As you receive the Eucharist today…as you receive Jesus’ Body and Blood…“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord”!