You probably know that the Israelites ate manna in the
desert for forty years. What you
probably don’t know is that they were creative in preparing manna—they had to
in order to keep their diet interesting.
Did you know they made mannacoti? Or mannawiches? Or, my personal favorite, mananna cream pie?
Those
Israelites. They just came out of
the Red Sea on dry land and are already complaining about their empty
bellies. Instead of seeking God,
who is above, they desired to be filled from what comes from earth—the
fleshpots and bread of Egypt.
Our
first reading leads us to consider how we must be fed on earth. There is both a physical and spiritual
way to ask this question. Because
we have spiritual ministers at Mass today I’d like to focus on the latter.
People
today are starving—and I’m not talking about food. They desire to be satiated and seek all sorts of earthly
means of nourishment—money, drugs, alcohol, self-help books and the like. Yet as spiritual ministers—religious,
priest, lay faithful—we must help feed people with what comes from above.
What
comes from above? The easy answer
is God—and this is the only one Who can feed His people. We cannot and should never settle for
making our ministry about ourselves or any other mere-human affair. The Eucharist is the food which we have
been given to be fed and we must draw people to Mass. The Scriptures—the seed planted on various soils—is God’s
Word that can nourish, heal and strengthen.
As
we strive to live our vocations to the full and assist in feeding God’s people,
always do so by seeking the food that comes from above.
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