MANNA: FOOD FROM HEAVEN

SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 July 21, Wednesday 

MANNA: FOOD FROM HEAVEN

Introduction

      It is quite likely that the delicious manna was not as plentiful and frequent as the epic description of Exodus seems to imply. But the authors bring out its theological meaning. When food is scarce and always the same, when the Hebrews cry out for the false securities of Egypt, every day enough manna “rains from heaven” for the needs of the day. Thus the Hebrews experience that God cares and that they are in his hands. He sustains them on the arduous road to freedom. God gives them – and us – what we need every day. We are not to worry about tomorrow.

      Christ refers to the manna as a figure of the eucharist, which sustains us on the road of life and does not allow death.

God looks for good soil to sow his seeds of life. Do we have hearts of stone in which nothing grows? Or hearts, open to the good news, but so overgrown with weeds of constant worrying about the cares of life and things that do not matter that no time is left to cultivate the growth in us of God’s life and love? Let us ask in this eucharist that we may yield a rich harvest, like the prophet Jeremiah.

Opening Prayer

God of might and tender care,
in the gift of life,
in our daily food on the table,
in the fragile freedom we enjoy,
we recognize your provident hand.
Give us the wisdom and strength
not to seek a hollow security
of things that are only provisional,
but to move forward
in search of lasting values:
the freedom of the justice and love
of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Reading 1: Ex 16:1-5, 9-15

The children of Israel set out from Elim,
and came into the desert of Sin,
which is between Elim and Sinai,
on the fifteenth day of the second month
after their departure from the land of Egypt.
Here in the desert the whole assembly of the children of Israel
grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
The children of Israel said to them,
"Would that we had died at the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt,
as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!
But you had to lead us into this desert
to make the whole community die of famine!"

Then the LORD said to Moses,
"I will now rain down bread from heaven for you.
Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion;
thus will I test them,
to see whether they follow my instructions or not.
On the sixth day, however, when they prepare what they bring in,
let it be twice as much as they gather on the other days."

Then Moses said to Aaron, "Tell the whole congregation
of the children of Israel:
Present yourselves before the LORD,
for he has heard your grumbling."
When Aaron announced this to the whole assembly of the children of Israel,
they turned toward the desert, and lo,
the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud!
The LORD spoke to Moses and said,
"I have heard the grumbling of the children of Israel.
Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh,
and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread,
so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God."

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp.
In the morning a dew lay all about the camp,
and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert
were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground.
On seeing it, the children of Israel asked one another, "What is this?"
for they did not know what it was.
But Moses told them,
"This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat."

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 78:18-19, 23-24, 25-26, 27-28

(24b) The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
They tempted God in their hearts
by demanding the food they craved.
Yes, they spoke against God, saying,
"Can God spread a table in the desert?"
R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
Yet he commanded the skies above
and the doors of heaven he opened;
He rained manna upon them for food
and gave them heavenly bread.
R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
Man ate the bread of angels,
food he sent them in abundance.
He stirred up the east wind in the heavens,
and by his power brought on the south wind.
R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.
And he rained meat upon them like dust,
and, like the sand of the sea, winged fowl,
Which fell in the midst of their camp
round about their tents.
R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

Alleluia

Alleluia, alleluia.
The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower;
all who come to him will live for ever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel: Mt 13:1-9

On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
"A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.

Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear."

Intercessions

–   That we may always keep trusting in God’s providence, that he will always care for the People of God and guide his Church, we pray:

–   That the eucharist may be our food of strength and commitment throughout our journey in life, we pray:

–   That seriously sick and dying Christians may have the chance to receive the viaticum, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
we bring before you the bread
that you give us to eat every day.
Make us seek the bread of your Son
that makes us neither rich nor poor
but that unites us as brothers and sisters
and makes us go the way of life
of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Lord God, provident Father,
you have nourished your people
with the living bread from heaven,
your Son Jesus Christ.
By the strength of this food
send us out to this hungry world
to provide it with bread for the table
and also with the manna
of justice, truth and freedom,
that people may believe that you are our God
and that your Son is our Lord for ever.

Blessing

The Lord gives you bread to eat. Do those of us who have always enough to eat thank the Lord for it? Do we thank him for giving us the manna of the eucharist? And do we share what we have with those who have not enough? May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Commentary

The life-giving Word

We are reading here from Matthew 13. The whole chapter consists of “parables of the Kingdom.” Pope Francis calls the Parable of the Sower as the 'mother' of all parables, because it speaks about listening to the Word. The Word of God is a seed which in itself is fruitful and effective; and God scatters it everywhere, not thinking about the chances of wasting the seeds. Such is the heart of God! Each one of us is a ground on which the seed of the Word falls; no one is excluded!

The sower is Jesus himself. He does not attempt to take us by force, but he casts his Word into our lives - by offering himself for us while leaving us free to choose. With patience and generosity, he brings us the Gospel – the Good News. This seed contains message of hope, message of compassion, message of mercy and forgiveness. That is why, if this seed is well received, it can bear marvellous fruits – fruits in abundance, just as the sower sow the seeds – in abundance.

God’s word is not just a spoken word. It is a doing word, a creating, life-giving word. It is like a life-bearing seed. And yet, as the Lord narrated in the parable, much of that Word fell on barren soil. Many refused to hear or to see – as it happened to Jesus himself. Even those closest disciples of Jesus did not provide a very promising soil in the beginning. Jesus’ life and mission seemed to end in tragic and dismal failure. There was not a single disciple in sight. His enemies laughed and mocked him. And yet… It was precisely at that moment of apparent failure, the seed “fell into the ground and died” (cf. John 12:24) and there the Word of God began to take root in the hearts people.

Jesus invites us today to look inside ourselves: to give thanks for our good soil and to tend the soil that is not yet good. He wants our hearts to be open to welcome the seed of the Word of God with faith. We need to check if our rocks of laziness are still numerous and large; to identify our thorns of vices and call them by name. The Gospel is a reminder for us to reclaim the soil, to effect a nice conversion of our hearts, bringing to the Lord in Confession and in prayer, our rocks and our thorns. In doing this, Jesus, the Good Sower will be glad to carry out an additional task: purify our hearts by removing the rocks and the thorns which choke his Word.