Meditation on This Sunday's Gospel

The readings for Sunday, August 8, 2021:

First Reading: 1 Kings 19:4-8

First Reading (Semi-cont.):

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33

Psalm: Psalm 34:1-8

Psalm (Semi-cont.): Psalm 130

Second Reading: Ephesians 4:25--5:2

Gospel: John 6:35, 41-51

Now we enter into that time of bread, where Sunday after Sunday, Christ uses that metaphor. Many of us are hungry, physically, but we're not sure what we hunger for. Bread makes a great metaphor, as it sustains us in our daily life, but it stands for so much more. Think of the miracle of bread: water, yeast, and flour, at its most basic level. But given time and attention periodically and an oven, it's transformed into so much more.

We, too, are hungry for transformation, but like those people who followed Christ from shore to shore, hoping for a free meal, we often don't know what we hunger for. Perhaps this explains why so many of us shop compulsively, eat compulsively, scroll through our screens compulsively, consume mind altering substances compulsively. We want to do God's work in the world, but there's so much work to do, and we're so tired before we even get started.  We're so tired doing the work for pay, the work of caretaking of our loved ones, that we often don't have the energy for God's work.

Our Scriptures remind us in both the Old and New Testaments that God provides. God gives us both physical food and spiritual food. But we must be receptive. God won't open our mouths and chew for us.

We are in such desperate need of spiritual renewal. We need communion--and I use that word on all sorts of levels.  In our increasingly fragmented world, it's hard to find true communion.  In these long days of summer, it's easy to fall into a funk and forget all the ways to find that communion.

But of course, the Gospels point the way out of these spiritual doldrums.  Perhaps it is time to return to a bread baking regimen. We can watch the yeast work its magic and contemplate the work of the Holy Spirit in the world. We can share that bread with others and take a moment to catch up. We can end the day with a Psalm, a bit of bread, a prayer of thanks. We can add some prayer to my morning.  As we bathe or shave, we can remember my baptism and pray, "Preserve me with your mighty power that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all I do direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ my Lord" (found throughout the 3 volume set The Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle).

It’s essential to remember that we are the leaven in this loaf that is the world.  Connection, both to God and to others, is what makes our yeast bubble and transform the flour and water of our days into something nourishing.