But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers."  And he lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat."  And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again.  And the angel of the LORD came again a second time, and touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, else the journey will be too great for you."  And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

Today's Song of Praise is taken from Psalm 34:

        My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and be glad.
        O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
        I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
        Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed.
        This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
        The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
        O taste and see that the LORD is good! Happy is the man who takes refuge in him!
        O fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no want!

Today's Epistle is from the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians, beginning at the 4th Chapter, and the 30th Verse:

        And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice,  and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.  Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

+ A Reading from the Gospel of John, beginning at the 6th Chapter, and the 41st Verse:

        The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."  They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus answered them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.  No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.  It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.  Not that any one has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father.  Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."

        The First Reading recounts Elijah's experience on the road to Mount Horeb (the scene of the Transfiguration, whose feast we celebrated last Sunday), as he fled from the rage of Queen Jezebel, after slaughtering her pagan prophets.  He lies exhausted on the side of the road, praying for death to release him from his woes, but instead of death, and angel (messenger) of the Lord brings him food -- and not ordinary food, but food which gives him the strength to walk the 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb.

        We clearly see here the Grace of God working to nurture His servant -- to strengthen and speed him on His way.  The Church sees this as a prefiguration of the Eucharist -- the food of the soul, which nurtures us and strengthens us for the Way of Christ which we follow.
 

        Some 30 or so years ago, there was a popular communion hymn (they may still be singing it, but I haven't heard it in years), perhaps from the play "Jesus Christ Superstar", which was a quote from today's Song of Praise:  "O taste and see how good the LORD is!"  Again, a Eucharistic reference -- talking about the ecstatic experience of sharing the Body of Christ in Communion.

        We are taught by the tradition of the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church to regard the Eucharist as not only a memorial (which it is), but also a real sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ, and a real reception of not only His humanity (Physical body & blood), but also his Divinity.  How then, can we partake of this Mystery, this Miracle, and not be transported out of ourselves, lifted "into the ninth heaven", as St. Paul says?  Yea, pity those who do not see, do not know, do not experience the wonder of the Lord, how good He tastes!
 

        In today's Epistle, Paul talks about the fruit of this experience -- the Imitation of Christ, as Thomas á Kempis put it -- and how we should behave, with the Lord inside us.  We are to "walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
 

        Today's Gospel is the "proof text" from which almost all meditation on Jesus as the Bread of Life flows -- here He explicitly says that He is that Bread, the He is from Heaven, that He is, essentially, God.  "I am the living bread which came down from heaven" -- how much clearer does He have to be?  Let him who has eyes, see;  ears, hear;  a tongue, taste -- here is the Redeemer of the World, come to each and every one of us, to feed us, to strengthen us, to bear us up, and to bring us in Glory to the Father.
 

        Let us pray, then, that it not be us, but Him in us, that walks the Christian Way toward heaven....
 

        In the Name of
        The Father     +
        And of the Son
        And of the Holy Spirit
Amen.