That miraculous bread, the manna, which kept Israel alive as they traversed the wilderness, was destined to reveal its own inadequacy. It fulfilled its purpose and kept the Israelites fed in the desert, but, as Moses told the people - and we heard in today's first reading - this bread pointed to a greater reality. "He afflicted you, making you hungry, and then fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, to make you recognize that man does not live by bread alone, but lives by everything that proceeds from the mouth of God.".
Thus, the purpose of the bread was to teach the Israelites not to limit their hunger to physical bread. They had to learn to trust in God, to find in him their ultimate nourishment. Unfortunately, it seems that in Jesus' time they had not yet learned this lesson. When Jesus multiplied the loaves in the desert, the Jews came to him asking for more. And Jesus has to tell them: "Labor not for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give you.". He has to remind them of the limited character of ordinary bread, even when it is produced miraculously: "Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and died.".
But Jesus then announces to them a far greater bread which is even more than God’s teaching understood metaphorically, to be ‘nourished’ by it. The Eucharist isn’t God’s word; it is God’s Word. It is God himself, the logos, the very Word of God, consubstantial with the Father, who gives himself to us in the form of bread – and wine. And this is what we celebrate in today’s feast, Corpus Christi. The Mass readings today stress the very literalness of the Eucharist. Moses told the people: don’t seek bread, seek God’s word, his teaching. Jesus goes further and gives us bread which is itself God’s Word – not just his teaching but the very teacher himself.
And this bread will not only keep us alive for a few years, but for all eternity. If we eat the Eucharistic bread "we have eternal life" (i.e., we already possess it now, in part, as a first participation) and Christ "he will raise us up at the last day".. Eating Christ makes us live in him, and concludes "he who eats of this bread shall live forever.". Thus, as we celebrate this feast, and whenever we receive the Eucharist, our thoughts must turn to eternity. It is not merely a nourishment for a geographical desert for several years, leading to life in a Promised Land that turned out to be a most unequal blessing. It is a food that leads us through the desert of our imperfect state on earth to the unadulterated joy of eternal life with God. Receiving the Eucharist should awaken in us an ever-increasing desire for heaven.
Homily on the readings of Corpus Christi (A)
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.
