The Lord said concerning the multitude: “for behold they have now been with Me three days, and have nothing to eat and if I shall send them away fasting to their home, they will faint in the way.”
Therefore, the Lord in His infinite mercy looked upon the multitude and responded to their need. He realized that in order for them to make it along the way they would need proper sustenance to sustain them.
The same held true concerning the Israelites who were led out of slavery and into the desert. Once in the desert they toiled about for a period of 40 years as they made their way to the Promised Land. During this period of time they began to curse God for they believed that it would be better if they went back into slavery for they were hungry and tired. God responded to their call and sent down food from Heaven which would feed them in order that they would make it to their destination.
Likewise, the Lord fed this multitude by taking the seven loaves and the fish and multiplying it in order that all could eat. This food served not only as bodily sustenance, but also came to feed their soul in order that they could always move forward along the way.
The way is our path towards Heaven. Along this path we need this same sustenance or we will only grow tired and faint along the way. As bread came down from Heaven we must know that the Lord gives us something so much better in the Most Holy Eucharist. As the Lord worked this miracle we must know that the Lord does something so much better then what took place on that day.
We must place our trust in Jesus for it is He who sustains our spiritual life. As is stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church concerning the Eucharist: it “preserves, increases, and renews the life of grace,” it “separates us from sin,” and it “preserves us from future moral sins.”
Whenever we have the opportunity to assist at Mass and receive the Eucharist we have the opportunity to nourish our soul with this new bread from heaven which comes to sustain our spiritual life. It is this Heavenly Food which becomes our food for the journey from this life to our Heavenly homeland. Along the way there will be trials and tribulations, but we must remember that we have everything that we will ever need in the Eucharist for to receive the Eucharist is to receive Christ.
Christ is truly food for the journey which are reflected in the words of Saint Thomas Aquinas: “Sweetest Jesus, Body and Blood most Holy, be the delight and pleasure of my soul, my strength and salvation to all temptations, my joy and peace in every trial, my lights and guide in every word and deed, and my final protection in death. Amen.”
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.