What is this?

 

Have you ever sat down to eat and asked, “What is this?” Maybe your mom or dad tried a new recipe that you never ate before or maybe you were visiting a friend whose family eats different things than your family. A friend of mine told me that when he gives his grandchildren something new to eat, like green beans, and they ask what it is, he tells them, “It’s pizza.” Then, he said, they eat it. I am going to try that with our grandchildren.

I mention this because in our first reading (Ex 16:2-15), when the people saw the manna in the desert, they asked each other, “What is it?” Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.”

Have you ever thought that whatever is on your plate is something that God has given you to eat? It may not always be pizza, but whatever it is, it will nourish your body.

But what is it that nourishes your soul or your heart? It is the Bread of Life. It is the Body of Christ. It is the Sacrament that we receive during the Lord’s Supper.

Jesus said to the people who followed him, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” Whenever you are hungry for God, ask God for Christ’s Body and Blood. Even when you’re too young to receive the Sacrament, believe that what you will one day receive will make all the difference in your life. With that, let us pray.

Heavenly Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bless these and all children, and give their parents the spirit of wisdom and love, so that the homes in which they grow up may be to them an image of Your Kingdom, and the care of their parents a likeness of Your love. We pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.