There once was a man who felt alone and burdened with an awful responsibility. Religious and civil authorities blocked his every move. Discouraged by his failure to “reach” others, he fled his native land. On the journey, he completely lost heart. Laying on the ground, he lacked even the physical energy to stand up and go further.
Extreme? It is an unadorned retelling of the first reading, the prophet Elijah’s flight into the wilderness as a failed prophet and “wanted” criminal. The Bible portrays Elijah as larger than life, an actor in the grand drama of Israel’s relationship to Israel. Though the people had accepted God’s gift to them–the land – they worshiped other gods alongside the Lord. The Lord called Elijah to direct the people’s hearts back exclusively to the Lord, but he found himself at war with the people, the king, and the religious professionals of the time. For a time, his enemies got the better of him, and “He prayed for death, saying, ‘This is enough, O Lord. Take my life.” An angel woke him from a depressed sleep and commanded him to get up and eat. “Strengthened by that food,” the Scripture says, “he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb,” to the Source.
Elijah had the good sense to begin a pilgrimage to the great shrine of true worship, Horeb, the mountain of the Lord, and recoup his strength. Too weak to go very far, the angel provides him with food that strengthened his body, nourished his spirit, and gave him the wisdom to find a path through the wilderness to meet his God. The bread in the wilderness turned out to be the word and wisdom of God.
What happened to Elijah is written for our benefit. Called to great things by our baptism, we can easily lose sight of our vocation. Our hunger is great, but we do not take nourishment. We end up like Elijah, exhausted and isolated, neglectful of the word and wisdom of God.
The Gospel reminds us that Jesus is the Bread of Life. True, Jesus is talking about the Eucharist, but the emphasis falls on Jesus himself as the bread that comes down from heaven. How can Jesus today be the bread from heaven for us? How can he be our “cake and jug of water” that will enable us to walk to the mountain of God? One way is Scripture, especially those proclaimed in the Sunday liturgy. Sometimes a word, phrase, or story will strike us, and “make us notice.” The word of God of course can be found anywhere in the Bible – in a Gospel story, a psalm, a sentence from St. Paul, or a memorable image like “good shepherd” or “the apple of my eye.” If you remember it, it’s a sign that there is a fit between you and that word or phrase. “Eat” that word. Let it nourish you, for God speaks to you through it.