The word
for today is onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is the name of those words
that imitate the sound they are referring to, like fizz, and crackle and hiss, and murmur. Murmur is the word we hear today in the Gospel and which we
heard many times in the Old Testament account of the Exodus of the Hebrews from
Egypt. Those people were really great murmurers: God delivered them from the
slavery of Egypt through the miracles performed by Moses and the people
murmured that they would be caught by Pharaoh’s troops and die in the desert.
After God saved them by parting the Red Sea, they murmured that there would not
be enough food for them to eat in the desert. After God gave them manna, they
murmured that the food was boring and wanted better grub[1].
In today’s reading from the Sixth chapter of the
Gospel of John, Jesus tells the people that He is the Bread that has come down
from heaven. And what do they do? They murmur: who does he think he is? Is this not Jesus the son of Joseph? Don’t we
know his father and mother? They would rather complain instead of listen to
what He has to say.
Jesus is telling them that they have nothing to
complain about. He is the One the world has been waiting for. He is the One
whose gaze has been turned towards the Father for all eternity. He is the only
One who has seen the Father. He is the only One who can give eternal life to
those who believe. Instead of complain, the people should realize that they are
living at the center of human history! All of God’s revelation led up to Christ,
the One who himself is God’s revelation. All of history, past, present and
future, takes it’s meaning from Christ. Life
without Christ is meaningless. A life
with the Lord is a life worth living. Jesus is offering this life when He
says I am the bread of life, but the
people, at least many of them, would rather grumble.
In some ways, perhaps in many ways, we act the same like
those ancient Israelites. We murmur. We grumble. Perhaps we grumble over our
jobs, our neighbors, or about far more important aspects of our lives, your
children, your spouses, our relatives. If we grumble enough, we will see
negativity everywhere, including the Church or even, like the ancient
Israelites, in God.
It is easy to be negative. It is also an infectious
disease. One negative thought leads to another. One negative person easily
infects another. We forget that we have been gifted with the Eternal Positive.
The eternal Word has become one of us. He who for all eternity is in intimate
union with divinity, shares His life with us. St. Paul could have had plenty of
reason to grumble. He was mocked, insulted, scourged, beaten, etc. But he
writes: I consider that the sufferings of
this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us[2].
We, the people of the promise, the people of God’s
choice, have to fight the contagion of negativity. St. Paul speaks about the
necessity for a positive attitude to the Christians: For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, was not
‘Yes and No;’ but in Him it is always ‘Yes.’‘For in him every one of God's
promises is a "Yes."[3]
“But Father,” people may say, “you must admit that
life has tremendous difficulties, especially at this time when so many of us
are unemployed.” Or, “Father, you obviously have no idea what I have
experienced. My family has put the fun in dysfunctional. My friends think I’m weird. And my feet
hurt.” Yes, this is true. None of us could ever experience anything the same as
another person. But let me say this, I
have seen people, you people, endure the worst tragedies and still cling to
your Christian optimism. I have witnessed the worst, parents losing their
children, suffering in ways that cannot be imagined, and yet still keep an
optimistic attitude in life. I have seen
you folks at your very best when the circumstances of life could have easily
thrust you into negativity.
How do you do it? How do you hold on to your Christian
optimism through tragedy? How have your avoided the contagion of negativity? You
must have a special help, a special gift, and a special grace. You must have
received the food you have needed for the journey of life.
We have been given a greater food than Elijah had. Fed
by Jesus Christ, with the food that is Jesus Christ, we have walked through a
valley of tears that is one aspect of the human condition. We have kept our
eyes focused on our goal, the eternal joy of the Lord. The communion we
receive, the life of Christ that nourishes us, gives us the ability to look
beyond the present and see all in the context of the Gift Who is Jesus Christ.
We come to Church, we receive Communion, not because
of a Church rule but because our journey through life is difficult, but the
goal of the journey is wonderful, eternal union with God. We receive communion
because we need food for this journey. The Lord gives us this food. He is our
food. He is the bread of life.
Sure, life has challenges, huge challenges. All of us will be confronted with pain, fear
and suffering if we are not confronted with those reminders of our humanity
right now. But we have no reason to
murmur, no reason to grumble, no reason to complain, no reason to be negative.
There is a simple reason for our optimism. We belong to Jesus Christ. And He is
ours ■
