Third Conference

Manna and Eucharist – (Exodus, 16:1-5)

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Having set out from Elim, the whole Israelite community 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 Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites 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.” (New American version)

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My dear brothers and sisters,

The passage I just read follows shortly after the account of the incident at Mara, which we made the springboard for the conference on the cross and sweetness. It, too, has something to say to us concerning what we encounter once we have decided to make a complete break with a worldly way of life and have begun our journey toward the promised land of fullness of Christian life. This application is one that goes back not only to early Christian writers; it is suggested by Christ Himself in the Gospel of St. John. As you recall, the crowds came looking for Him the day after He had performed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, and Jesus chided them for their anxiety over perishable food, that is, food for the body only. In the course of the conversations, the crowds referred to the Manna their ancestors had eaten during the forty years of wandering in the desert, and Jesus seized the opportunity to tell them that the Manna was not the true bread from heaven, but that it was His own Body, and that besides, His Blood was true heavenly drink. The Manna was clearly a “type” or a foreshadowing of the Holy Eucharist, and by considering some of the things said about the Manna, we can gain some insights into how the Eucharist helps us on our own spiritual journey. Those texts help us to understand how necessary the Eucharist is to the maintenance and development of our life of grace.

It should not come to us as a surprise that we need a very special food to support the new life we lead, or are expected to lead, in virtue of our being incorporated into Christ at Baptism. Baptism has not removed our conditions as mortal beings with a wounded nature in a sinful world. The sinful world is that segment of human society, which has chosen to reject the idea of a Supreme Being who has created us for a specific purpose, and who takes an interest in each of us, and who, further, intervenes to help us attain the destiny for which He created us. Thus, worldly people reject the idea that God has revealed Himself and has revealed the truth about ourselves and given us knowledge of what He expects of us. But even when we do live among people who have not rejected Divine Revelation, and who do believe in a transcendent God who entered our world to make demands on us, we seem to be so obsessed with the truth that we must not “force” our religious beliefs upon others, that we also seem to avoid making all reference to God when we are dealing with others. The result is that so much of our life in society is carried on as if God had not revealed a pattern of life for us to adhere to, and very little is said or done to overcome unspoken assumptions, presumptions and attitudes that proceed from secular humanism, and therefore hostile, if not deadly to the spiritual life of grace. An antidote to those things, which “poison” the life of charity in our souls, has to be employed, and that antidote is the Eucharist.

Actually, there is a strict analogy between bodily life and the life of the spirit by Grace. We need food to nourish our bodily organism, as well as to provide the energy we need to carry out the activities expected of us. We can even speak of a mere “human” psychic life, and also a corresponding psychic life proper to us as “children of God by adoption” as well as food to nourish our life of sanctifying Grace. Again, it is the Eucharist, which supplies these latter needs.

We can begin to understand why we need a source of divine energy to sustain the life of Grace in our souls when we reflect upon what it is Faith, Hope and Charity enables us to accomplish. Each of them enables us to transcend, to get beyond, the natural limitations of our Intellect, Memory and Will, and to operate on a transcendent plane. That would not be possible without the Eucharist.

To see why that is so, we must recall that the Intellect, for example, cannot accept and cling to as truth whatever it is not able to understand through logic and reason, based upon the data provided by the senses. Even when a person practices a mere human faith, i.e., accepts facts, it has no personal knowledge of, logic and reason still can work on the senses’ perception of the person on whose authority he accepts the stated facts. In the area of Divine Faith the facts or truths accepted, that is, The Trinity, the Incarnation, the Virginal Conception and birth, the Eucharist, Sanctifying Grace, the Real Presence in the Eucharist, to name a few, transcend the natural power of reason to grasp. Besides, the senses do not give logic and reason something to work on to support reliance upon the one revealing, because the Revealer, God Himself, is a pure spirit. Thus, living by Divine Faith consumes Divine Energy, which must be replenished by feeding upon Jesus’ Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist.

The exercise of the Theological Virtue of Hope is another example. We don’t appreciate properly the role of hope in our life of grace until we understand that its purpose is to maintain and sustain our morale. Morale is that indefinable quality of soul which enables us to remain serene and confident and unafraid in the face of uncertain future and unforeseen difficulties and obstacles. The source of foundation of merely “natural” Hope or “morale” is the memory of all the weapons, or means, or resources at our disposal with which to combat and overcome any unforeseen, future threats to our happiness and well being, or to the attainment of our objectives in life. Thus, the memory is the “arsenal” of the soul! So if, from the natural point of view we remember that we do have the tools or weapons to exercise a modicum of control over people and our environment, such as to be able to get them to help us get what we want, then we know our morale is good. Again, from the natural point of view, those weapons are money, good looks, brains, a winning personality, powerful connections, and etceteras. But when it comes to our status as children of God living a life of Grace, whose goal is eternal life beyond the grave, we're obliged to seek other weapons than those just mentioned. None of those can guarantee eternal salvation. Indeed, we know by faith that they can easily cause us to lose our souls. (It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.) What we have to rely on instead are: the Cross, poverty of Spirit, meekness, humility, weakness, foolishness, and so on. We have to become as dependent as little children. From the natural point of view these things cannot produce “morale”. But Hope is able to, nourished by the divine energy provided by the Holy Eucharist. Indeed, Hope was implicitly referred to by Jesus when He said: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him, and I will raise him up on the last day. The mere fact that frequent communion is able to generate serene confidence (morale) because the one who abides in us made use of those very means we just mentioned to overcome sin and death and bring us to birth as His brothers and sisters in Grace.

To complete the picture, we can say pretty much the same things about the Theological Virtue of Charity, except that it is not as difficult to be convinced that we could not “naturally” practice charity without the divine energy supplied by the Eucharist, since we all know by experience that Charity exceeds the natural power of the soul.

From the natural point of view what is it that engenders love in our souls? It is always the personal experience of the “goodness” based on the sense perceptions of the beloved person. But what does our faith tell us we must love? In addition to those close to us in the Church, who are also close to us by human ties, we are also expected to love those persons whom the world calls enemies, those who hurt us or despitefully use us. We are also obliged to love whom we experience, through sense or ego, as repugnant. Furthermore, it is charity, which enables us to love God above all things, a Being of whom we have no direct evidence as being lovable. Which of us has ever embraced God and felt His goodness and tenderness tangibly? Or seen the pure, disinterested affection radiate from His countenance? Yet charity enables us to love Him above all else.

And what about those instances when tragic episodes in our lives may have caused us to esteem God as not so lovable for allowing us to suffer grievous affliction? How can He possibly permit all the evil and suffering to exist in the world, especially when its victims are innocent and helpless? Is it then “natural” to love God above all things? Of course not. Thus we see that our Wills, our Hearts, need to be given the power and energy to do so, and that comes only through the Holy Eucharist. The desert of which the Israelites wandered for forty years was incapable of producing food to sustain their lives. The social conditions of this world, the things of this world, which worldly people pursue, are even more inhospitable to Divine Life of our souls than that desert to the Israelites. What Manna was for their bodily lives, the Holy Eucharist is for the life of our souls. In addition to all that, there are remarks made concerning the Manna which help us to know what our dispositions must be when we receive Jesus in Holy Communion. We are told that the Manna was found lying about the camp early in the morning while it was still dark. Furthermore, when the sun rose and began to mount higher in the sky, the manna would melt and disappear. We can very well interpret that to signify that the Eucharist must be received in Faith. As soon as we try to understand the Eucharist, that is, shine the light of intellect upon it so as to understand, it loses the ability to nourish us. The amazing thing is that though the warmth of the sun could cause Manna to disappear, the heat of the fires used to cook it, did not. Perhaps that means that in the heat of struggles against temptation, the Eucharist makes its life-giving powers evident by conferring the strength to prevail over them. With regard to receiving the Eucharist in faith, the Church has us sing in that beautiful hymn of St. Thomas Aquinas called the Tantum Ergo: Praestet Fides Supplementum/Sensuum defectue: “Let Faith supply for the inadequacy of the senses.”

And in addition, the Church expressly forbids that the Eucharist be given to anyone who cannot discern by Faith, that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. Or stated positively, only Faith in the Real Presence makes reception of Holy Communion spiritually fruitful. The stronger one’s Faith, the more spiritual nourishment the soul will derive.

Some other characteristics of the Manna also help us to get an idea of the salutary effects of Holy Communion on our psychic or emotional life. Those characteristics have to do with the “taste” of the Manna. In one line it is stated that the Manna tasted like flour mixed with honey. In another, we are told that the “mixed crowd” (the Latin says vulgus promiscuous) complained about its bland taste and began to cry out for spicy foods they had tasted in Egypt. Then, a passage in the Book of Wisdom says that the Manna “contained in itself all sweetness” (we sing that at Benediction) and again that it would turn to the taste of the one eating.

The passage about the flour and honey could be interpreted to mean our need for something to give our sense of self-worth a boost, and something to make the weakness and foolishness associated with the Children of God emotionally palatable. We have got to accept ourselves as we are and be pleased with what God has made us to be. Flour, of course, represents bread, which gives substance to, and honey as that which delights the soul. So whenever we find that our life experiences deal a blow to our self-esteem, or make our lives as God’s children seem dull and insipid compared to the “alleged” excitement in the lives of worldly people, then the graces of the Holy Eucharist come to our aid.

The lines about the bland flavor complained about by the (mixed crowd) vulgus promiscuous, signifies that the Eucharist can offer very little in the way of spiritual nourishment and spiritual joy in anyone who is self-indulgent in pleasures of sense. If a person turns to gratification of the senses and the ego to make life palatable, or to add spice to one’s life, then for that person the Eucharist is robbed of its power. Since St. Teresa of Jesus could say that “prayer and self-indulgence do not go together”, it is quite logical to deduce that fruitful reception of Jesus in the Eucharist likewise does not go together with self-indulgence.

The final reference to taste stated above also lends itself very well to interpretation in terms of our psychic and emotional needs. Just as the Manna accommodated itself to the taste of the eater, so also the Eucharist will accommodate itself to the particular state of soul of the one receiving it. If we are in need of consolation, Jesus in the Eucharist consoles us. If we are feeling lonely, Jesus in the Eucharist provides the remedy. If we are doubtful and uncertain, Jesus gives us certitude and conviction. Are we tempted in any way? The Eucharist enables us to overcome all temptation.

In particular, Jesus in the Holy Eucharist provides the strongest, perhaps the unique bulwark in the fact of temptations against chastity. It seems that, from the natural point of view, nothing provides a keen sense of one’s own self-worth and lovableness than the physical experience of another’s love and affection. The Eucharist is the remedy against any unlawful desire or quest for physical love and its consolations. I still remember that story my novice master told us about forty years ago with regard to perfect chastity and the Eucharist. He said there were several occasions when people he would meet while traveling by train or plane who would disclose that they could not live without sexual pleasure. And my novice master would always say, “If I didn’t know about the Holy Eucharist, I would think that too.”

But to get back to the nature of Manna turning to the taste of the eater. We should try to come to Holy Communion with our souls filled with fervent desires. The more intensely we hunger for the particular grace or favor or virtue, the more likely it will be granted. As St. John of the Cross has stated, “As much as you hope for (hunger for) so much shall you receive.”

There is still an instruction concerning the manna, which we should consider. I believe it signifies that we ought to bestir ourselves and approach the communion rail whenever we have the opportunity. The Lord instructed the Israelites to go out every day before dawn and to gather only the amount they needed for the day. On the day before the Sabbath they were to go out and gather twice as much, because no Manna would be found on the Sabbath. Those who took more than they needed during the week discovered that the extra would rot overnight. But the extra on the day before the Sabbath did not. Perhaps that was a foreshadowing of the petition of the Our Father: give us this day our daily bread (bread for just today). Jesus may have had something like that in mind when He said not to worry about tomorrow. “Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.”

In any event, we might well interpret that fact about the manna to mean that to forego opportunities to go to Holy Communion will terminate the fruits and benefits of the previous communion. But if one were lawfully prevented, i.e. a great inconvenience were to stand in the way on going to communion again, then the fruits and benefits of the previous one would endure. In giving the instruction the Lord said that by means of it He would have a way of knowing whether the people really wanted to fulfill His Will. In view of the fact that we live in a culture so hostile to the life of grace, were anyone (Christian) to omit taking advantage of reasonable opportunities to receive Jesus in Holy Communion, that would seem to indicate that such a person were really not that concerned about fulfilling God’s Will as perfectly as possible. I think that this interpretation is warranted by the doctrine of spiritual Holy Communion. Two conditions are necessary: (1) a person is unable to get to Holy Communion; (2) a person is in the state of grace. Then, the mere desire for Sacramental Communion produces all the graces of actual Holy Communion. It seems to me that the mere adverting to the fact that one cannot make it to Holy Communion implicitly includes the desire to receive. Perhaps that is the mechanism by which the fruits and benefits of the previous sacramental communion endure. The being in the state of grace implicitly includes the desire to fulfill “God’s Will as faithfully as possible.

How to conclude this conference? Perhaps an idea of St. Augustine is appropriate. We have likened the taking of food for the body and its effects to the taking of the Eucharist as food for the soul and its effects, but chiefly in regard to nourishing and providing energy. There are other aspects of taking food for the body we haven’t spoken of and two of them would be (1) to gladden the heart, which in turn could be divided into a) reducing stress and refreshing (recreating) one’s spirits. The other would be (2) when taken in common: as a means to achieve social bonding and unity among those sharing the same table. The first was certainly included in our comments about how the Eucharist turns to the taste of the eater, and the second certainly is envisioned by our receiving the Eucharist at a liturgy, which commemorates both the original Paschal meal, and the Last Supper. We don’t seem to highlight the bonding aspect of the particular liturgy in regard to the participants thereof. We tend to highlight more a oneness with other Catholics all over the world in Christ’s body. Perhaps we need to give more attention to the social implications of being present with specific others at a specific Mass.

Anyway, the one feature of taking spiritual nourishment (the Eucharist) that differs from our taking corporal nourishment is the one suggested by Augustine: When we eat corporal food, it changes into us. When we eat the Body and Blood of Jesus, we are changed into Him. And still another, perhaps also to St. Augustine: The more we eat corporal food the more our appetite diminishes. The more we receive Communion fruitfully, the more our appetite increases for the Holy Eucharist. And related to that: The hungrier one is for food, the better it tastes. The less hungry, the less tasty. This is true of both corporal food and the Holy Eucharist.

Finally, when does our need for the Eucharist end? For the Israelites, the Manna ceased when they had celebrated their first Passover in the Promised Land. Our need for Jesus in the Eucharist ends only when we reach our Heavenly homeland.

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