Not By Bread Alone

God allowed our ancestors to wander the desert for forty years as a test of faith by means of affliction.  As a loving father would, He did not forget His people.     

Dt8:3 - He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna, a food unknown to you and your fathers, in order to show you that not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the LORD.

Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights before his public ministry and the devil said to Him, (Mt 4:3-4) “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.”  Jesus said in reply, “It is written: ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.’”

Jesus is the true bread from Heaven.  Jesus proclaims: 

Jn6:48-51 – I am the bread of life. 

Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;

this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

St. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians tells us our ancestors ”all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was the Christ” - (1 Cor 10:3-4). “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf” - (1 Cor 10:16-17).  We are one body and one spirit in Christ.  No doubt, Jesus is truly and physically present Body Blood Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist.  We do not stand alone.

Perseverance

What does it mean to persevere anyway?  I easily find myself avoiding anything that gets too hard.  Perseverance is defined as persistent determination.  The Book of St James in the Bible tells us to consider it all joy when you encounter various trials for this produces perseverance.  This is a hard concept for me to embrace since my first instinct tells me to avoid anything that gets too uncomfortable. 

If that wasn’t hard enough, we’re told that we should let perseverence be perfect.  If we need a little wisdom here, ask in faith without doubt and it will be given to us.  If we doubt, we become like a wave being tossed about and become unstable.

Blessed are we who persevere in temptation.  But, we shouldn’t presume that God sent us that temptation.  Temptation is born out of our own desires and leads to sin which when matured ends in death.  God made us in His image and likeness for life with Him as firstfruits of His creation.

Saint Josemaria Escriva spoke of  perseverence very precisely in THE WAY. 

988 Discouragement is the enemy of your perseverance.  If you don’t fight against discouragement, you will become pessimistic first and lukewarm afterwards.  Be an optimist.

990 Perseverence that nothing can shake.  You lack it.  Ask it of our Lord and do what you can to obtain it; for perseverance is a great safeguard against your ever turning from the fruitful way you have chosen. 

- St. Josemaria Escriva – THE WAY

Think about that the next time you’re faced with a trial.  Embrace perseverance.  Remember the promise that if you need a little wisdom on the subject, just ask God and he’ll provide it.

God to man: I will pour out a portion of my spirit on all flesh

Today the Church celebrates Pentecost.  Here are some thoughts I had as I was reflecting on Acts 2.

On that day of Pentecost, which would come to be celebrated as the birthday of the Church, God sent his Holy Spirit onto the Apostles and Mary after Judas’ successor was selected.  A noise like a strong driving wind from the sky filled the house.  Tongues of fire parted and rested on each of them.  People from every nation heard the Apostles speaking in their own native languages causing many to wonder what it all meant or even if they had too much new wine. 

The first apostles were given a mission from God’s Holy Spirit.  Peter, the first Pope proclaimed that these men aren’t drunk as you suppose, it being only nine o’clock in the morning.  He reminded them of what was spoken through the profit Joel.  “It will come to pass in the last days, God says, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh.  Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.  Upon my servants and my handmainds I will pour out a portion of my spirit and they shall prophesy.  I will work wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below: blood, fire, and a cloud of smoke.  The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and splendid day of the Lord, and it shall be that everyone shall be saved who calls on the name of the Lord.”   

Peter went on to remind the crowds of the words of the prophet David about the coming of Jesus.  He came with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs.  God raised this Jesus, releasing him from the throes of death.  Exalted at the right hand of God, Jesus received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured it forth. 

People asked Peter and the apostles what they should do. Peter said to them simply, “repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”. 

This gift was not only promised to the first three thousand who were baptised that day, but to all of us.  The first Christians devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles and to prayer and to gather to break bread (aka Holy Sacrifice of the Mass) and praising God. For this, the Lord added to their number those who are being saved. 

Our faith, still very much alive today, has been passed down from Peter and the first apostles to all of us today in the Church.  During the holy sacrifice, Jesus is made present to us as he promised to be always with us until the end of time.  The gift of faith and communion with the Church is here for all of us to either reject or receive in the sacraments.

Happy Birthday to the Church and praise be to God for this gift we have in his Church.