Manna that God Provided

My Dear Parishioners,

Last week we recalled the miraculous feeding of the five thousand which begins the very important 6^th Chapter of the Gospel of John.

The feeding of the five thousand recalled the Manna that God provided for Israel in the desert. The Manna was itself a miraculous gift as was the feeding of the five thousand. The feeding of the five thousand would then also foreshadow a greater miracle, and that is the Institution of the Most Holy Eucharist.

The Manna appeared in the morning, not by human hands, but by the Hand of God. God also provided a miraculous flock of quail each evening, so that the Israelites would have their fill of bread and meat: The LORD said to Moses: I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have your fill of bread, and then you will know that I, the LORD, am your God. In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp. In the morning there was a layer of dew all about the camp, and when the layer of dew evaporated, fine flakes were on the surface of the wilderness, fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground. On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, “What is this?”^* for they did not know what it was. But Moses told them, “It is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat (Exodus: 16: 11-15).

The Manna and the quail not only provided for Israel’s physical needs, but also showed forth the Glory of God and His Goodness. This is why a sample of the Manna was kept with the Ten Commandments: Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded. Keep a full omer of it for your future generations, so that they may see the food I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.” Moses then told Aaron, “Take a jar^* and put a full omer of manna in it. Then place it before the LORD to keep it for your future generations.” As the LORD had commanded Moses, Aaron placed it in front of the covenant^* to keep it. (Exodus 16: 32-34).

But with the exception of the sample of manna that was kept with the Ark of the Covenant, Manna itself was perishable: Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over until morning.” But they did not listen to Moses, and some kept a part of it over until morning, and it became wormy and stank. Therefore, Moses was angry with them (Exodus 16: 19-20).

The only other exception was Manna that was kept for the Sabbath. That too, could not be keep past the Sabbath for it too would spoil (Exodus 16: 22-26).

We see Jesus reminding the people of His own time that the Manna was a genuinely miraculous gift from Heaven: Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Now, moreover, Jesus was promising something far greater than the Manna: Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”……. “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” I AM the Bread of Life. This “I AM” statement is one of seven that Jesus makes in the Gospel of John.

These I AM statements are statements of Divinity, as I AM is the Holy Name of God (Yahweh=I AM). These I AM statements also tell us something more about Jesus.

When He tells us “I AM the Bread of Life,” He is telling us just how much He loves us. He is reminding us that He wants us to give us His very self so that we may share in His Divine Life. Thus, we know that Jesus was not speaking symbolically, but literally. That is why so many people of His own time walked away from Him. They couldn’t understand how He was going to share His Body and Blood with them and with us.

Of course, He would show us how at the very first Mass, the Last Supper.

As we partake of His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity this weekend at Holy Mass and Holy Communion, we share in His Divinity. He, in turn, continually sanctifies us in this life and prepares us for the life to come.

This is that beautiful exchange that takes place as we share in the Power and the Glory of the Most Holy Eucharist.

To help us continue to grow in love for the Most Holy Eucharist, I am including St. John Vianney’s catechesis on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist.

Let us continue to work for the food that gives Eternal Life: the beautiful Most Holy Eucharist which really and truly contains Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

St. Joseph, Patron of the Church, pray for us!
Fr. Michael J Pawelko, Pastor

St. John Vianney
Catechism on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist Crossroads Initiative

OUR LORD is hidden there, waiting for us to come and visit Him, and make our request to Him. See how good He is! He accommodates Himself to our weakness. In Heaven, where we shall be glorious and triumphant, we shall see him in all His glory. If He had presented Himself before us in that glory now, we should not have dared to approach Him; but He hides Himself, like a person in a prison, who might say to us, “You do not see me, but that is no matter; ask of me all you wish, and I will grant it.”

He is there in the Sacrament of His love, sighing and interceding incessantly with His Father for sinners. To what outrages does He not expose Himself, that He may remain in the midst of us! He is there to console us; and therefore, we ought often to visit Him.

How pleasing to Him is the short quarter of an hour that we steal from our occupations, from something of no use, to come and pray to Him, to visit Him, to console Him for all the outrages He receives! When He sees pure souls coming eagerly to Him, He smiles upon them. They come with that simplicity which pleases Him so much, to ask His pardon for all sinners, for the outrages of so many ungrateful men. What happiness do we not feel in the presence of God, when we find ourselves alone at His feet before the holy tabernacles! “Come, my soul, redouble thy fervor; thou art alone adoring thy God. His eyes rest upon thee alone.” This good Savior is so full of love for us that He seeks us out everywhere.

Ah! If we had the eyes of angels with which to see Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is here present on this altar, and who is looking at us, how we should love Him! We should never more wish to part from Him. We should wish to remain always at His feet; it would be a foretaste of Heaven: all else would become insipid to us. But see, it is faith we want. We are poor blind people; we have a mist before our eyes. Faith alone can dispel this mist. Presently, my children, when I shall hold Our Lord in my hands, when the good God blesses you, ask Him then to open the eyes of your heart; say to Him like the blind man of Jericho, “O Lord, make me to see!”

If you say to Him sincerely, “Make me to see!” you will certainly obtain what you desire, because He wishes nothing but your happiness. He has His hands full of graces, seeking to whom to distribute them; Alas! and no one will have them…………………………………………………………………………………….. Oh,

indifference! Oh, ingratitude! My children, we are most unhappy that we do not understand these things! We shall understand them well one day; but it will then be too late!

Our Lord is there as a Victim; and a prayer that is very pleasing to God is to ask the Blessed Virgin to offer to the Eternal Father her Divine Son, all bleeding, all torn, for the conversion of sinners; it is the best prayer we can make, since, indeed, all prayers are made in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ. We must also thank God for all those indulgences that purify us from our sins.  but we pay no attention to them. We

tread upon indulgences, one might say, as we tread upon the sheaves of corn after the harvest. See, there are seven years and seven quarantines for hearing the catechism, three hundred days for reciting the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, the Salve Regina, the Angelus. In short, the good God multiplies His graces upon us; and how sorry we shall be at the end of our lives that we did not profit by them!

When we are before the Blessed Sacrament, instead of looking about, let us shut our eyes and our mouth; let us open our heart: our good God will open His; we shall go to Him, He will come to us, the one to ask, the other to receive; it will be like a breath from one to the other. What sweetness do we not find in forgetting ourselves in order to seek God! The saints lost sight of themselves that they might see nothing but God, and labor for Him alone; they forgot all created objects in order to find Him alone. This is the way to reach Heaven.