Out of Egypt

Well folks, August has arrived.  This past year I had the opportunity to teach Morality to Seniors at Bishop McCort, and well, as I'm sure you can imagine it was quite the experience.  Still though, I got to know a number of the kids, and now is a very scary time of year for them.  Very soon, many of them will leave home for the first time, move into a dorm, and in a real way, be on their own.

I'm sure if we search through our own lives, most of us remember moving into that first dorm, first apartment, or that first house, walking in the door, looking at the room and saying….my God, what did I get myself into….I'm really on my own now….

Most of us have had that experience at one point or another, beginning a new phase of life, not sure if we're ready, but yet, moving on because well, we'd made our decision and now we've got to make it work somehow.  If we keep that feeling in mind, it might give us just some small inkling of the experience the Israelites were having in today's reading.  They had just left the land of Egypt behind where they had been slaves.  Now they were a free people, but now the reality of being free was just starting to sink in.  In Egypt, they were severely mistreated, in egypt they were slaves without freedom, but at least they had the security of knowing where their next meal would come from.  They knew what to expect every day.  Now, in the wilderness, the people were completely dependent on God for their well-being.  Even though God had certainly provided for them in the past, the people didn't yet know where they stood, There was manna there today….would the manna still be there tomorrow?

There was something comforting about familiarity, even a bad familiarity.  How many of us like to complain about our current situation in life, but yet, changing would bring to many unknowns, that we're paralyzed by fear...and we just can't bring ourselves to come out and make that step….no matter how promising it might be...

For those Israelites who did step out of their comfort zone, for those who did leave Egypt, God provided the Miracle of Manna to feed them.  God provided for those who were willing to follow him, as long as they took that first step.  Sometimes we think of manna as little breadcrumbs falling from the sky, but in reality, it's a natural occurrence in that area of the world, that we find even today that hardens with the morning dew.  However, today it can only be found in small quantities and only at certain times of the year.  So, it shouldn't be all that odd to us, that the God who created the world, used his own creation to produce enough food to feed his people.  When God's people put their neck out for his sake, he provided for them.

In the Gospel today, Remember from last Sunday, Jesus had just produced the miracle of the loaves and the fishes.  He had fed five thousand people with just five loaves and two fish.  These were hungry people, and suddenly, a guy who gave out free meals was pretty popular.

But..Jesus tells them not to work for food that perishes, but for the food of eternal life.    The manna in the desert was only a symbol of what God had in store for his people.  Jesus reminds the people that it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven to the people, but God himself.  Then, Jesus makes an incredible statement, one that stands at the very center of the faith.  When the people say, give us this bread always, Jesus says, I AM the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never hunger.  What an incredible statement.  Remember the story of Moses and the burning bush?  Moses asked for God's name and he said "I am who I am"  Now Jesus says….he is the great I am, he is God in the flesh.  That must have been a terribly shocking statement to the people when they heard it. 

For the rest of us here, now, reading the story, We know exactly what he's talking about.  We know and believe that Jesus really is God.  So when he says I am the Bread of life, He's talking about the Eucharist!  Our journey today isn't a journey from Egypt into the promised land, but instead a journey out of sin and into eternal life.  Our food that sustains us on the Journey isn't just manna from heaven, but Jesus Christ himself, body, blood, soul, and divinity, in the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist.  That's why Eucharist given just before death is called Viaticum, literally, food for the journey. 

If you think about it.  That's really what life's about.  Leaving behind our sins and going out of ourselves to follow God to our eternal home.  How many times in our lives to we act like the Israelites, and turn back into a life of sin, if nothing else, at least for the secure familiarity of knowing our misery.  When we sin, sometimes we even realize the consequences, but we convince ourselves, If I'm gonna be miserable, at least I know what to expect.  Is that really any way to live?.  When we journey out instead, in a life of faith, it's a dangerous business, we really don't know what will lie ahead of us.  But it's worth taking. 

It might be hard to stand up for what we believe.  It might be unpopular.  We've seen lots of examples in the news lately, and we really don't know what might happen to us if we really step out of ourselves for God.  We really don't know how the world will treat us.  At least when we sin we know we'll be miserable.  The is no doubt that the journey of faith is a difficult one, but Jesus promises us he'll be right there, walking with us and feeding us along the way. 

So when we come to that experience that we have so many times in our lives where we stop and say "What in the world did I get myself into?"  When we're tempted to turn back and give up.  WE should remember our Lord, who gave himself as the bread of life, so that we would have food for the journey and we make our way out of ourselves and toward God.  In a few moments, right here, Jesus will give us himself, the bread of life, the true bread that comes down from heaven.  He will give us the heavenly food that will sustain us on the journey, no matter what difficulties may come before us.

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