The Associate Rector's Reflections...July 30, 2009

From The Rev. William D. Bennett, Jr. 

Over the next several Sundays, our Gospel readings for the Eucharist will enter what we might call a series of "Bread Sunday" sayings of Jesus. That is, we will be hearing readings from the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to John where Jesus says such things as "I am the bread of life," "I am the true bread which comes down from heaven," and "the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." Actually, the "Bread Sundays" begin at the beginning of chapter six of John, when we hear of the miracle of the multiplication of the "five barley loaves" (and two small fish) to feed the 5000. Jesus makes it clear that this miracle was not about reacting to a human predicatment (a lot of physically hungry people) when he says later in the chapter, when the crowds look for him afterwards: "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishies, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." Jesus knows and cares about our physical needs and urges, but he knows that we are much more than a collection of our impulses and instincts for survival. Jesus offers us the fullness of life by inviting us into the fullness of his life. We experience this in the Eucharist, where we join the brokeness and incompleteness of our lives to his own perfect offering of himself, and through him, our lives become bread for the world. We sometimes may not grasp that, in the Eucharist, we are invited into both an astounding intimacy with Jesus and to share in his radical generosity, which is expressed in his "bread of life" sayings. We can bring the wonderful intimacy and generosity of the Eucharistic life into our homes, workplaces, schools, and in the "always and everywheres" of our lives, each day, even in the experience of sitting down for a shared meal with families, partners, and friends.

The late Henri Nouwen wrote, "The table is one of the most intimate places in our lives. It is there that we give ourselves to one another...We invite our friends to become part of our lives. We want them to be nurtured by the same food and drink that nurtures us. We desire communion...  Strange as it may sound, the table is the place where we want to become food for one another. Every breakfast, lunch or dinner can become a time of growing communion with one another." --From Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith. (Anyone can receive daily e-mails with brief devotions from this "daybook" by Henri Nouwen by signing up at http://www.henrinouwen.org.)

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. -- The Book of Common Prayer

 Peace and Blessings, Bill