Friday of the Third Week of Easter
"Real food" has been in the news a lot lately. Real food could be summed up as food that has both ingredients you can pronounce, and which you can prepare in your very own kitchen without too much trouble.
Spurred by our Lenten fast and some dietary concerns, my own family decided to try sticking to a mostly real-foods menu ourselves. It's a lot harder than I thought it would be! Not because of any lack of resolve on our parts but simply because our environments are FULL - to the brim! - with all kinds of food that contain all kinds of ingredients I can't pronounce and ingredients that I can't simply buy at the store. I've been surprised by all the things that don't typically count as "real food" - String cheese? Basic loaves of bread from the supermarket? And then there's my office with its candy jar and good-hearted people bringing boxes of donuts and packages of pastries. It's been an interesting experiment trying to negotiate wanting to be hospitable and accept what people are offering, and join in food festivities - but also wanting to eat more fruits and veggies (to put it simply).
We've been realizing that food is more than calories, it's also about being with people. It's about traditions and memories and relationships.
So of course, it makes sense that God comes to us in food too - in real bread and wine, which because Jesus' flesh and blood.Today's gospel reading (John 6:52-59) shows Jesus talking about his own version of real food. And just as with our human food, this food nourishes our bodies and our souls and our relationships - and this food too, has led to our own traditions in the Mass.
This food gives us life and all of us who eat it remain in Christ. The apostles and authors of the New Testament books all asked: what does it mean that we are given Jesus' life in this bread and wine and that we all remain in Christ? What is its significance?
We don't always ask that kind of question even of the food we eat a lot more often. A lot of times we eat food without thinking about it - we grab a muffin on the way to work, or eat out of a ramen noodle bowl while doing something else. We eat so mindlessly we don't think about how all that food really does affect our bodies. Sometimes the effect is instantaneous - but most of the time the effects of food are slow and almost imperceptible - until one day, you notice that all your new eating habits mean you really have lost a few pounds (or gained a few ;-)). One day you notice that eating more protein or vegetables means you have more energy.
So it is too with Jesus' real food. Sometimes the change God's meal makes in us is instantaneous. But sometimes, it doesn't seem like much happens - indeed, sometimes I'm rather mindless about it.
The thing is, though: I notice it when I go without for a while. Last month, I had the flu for two weeks and couldn't come to mass during that time. It made a big difference in how I looked at the world and in how I responded to people. Not to have the time to reflect on the Word together, not to be with the other people who show up for mass, not to eat and drink with everyone and share a common cup and a common loaf - the absence of God then made me realize how much all the prayers and quiet moments and homilies and the altar table all almost imperceptibly orient me toward God and toward you, my brothers and sisters.
So this week, let us be mindful about the real food that God gives us.
- Jana M. Bennett