The readings for today celebrate the bread of life discourse (John 6:51-58). The Jesus in John's gospel reminds us that without the Eucharist we have no life now or eternally. He promises eternal life.
The reading from the book of Proverbs (Prov. 9:1-6), meant to throw light onto the Gospel, has Wisdom building her house, preparing the food, setting the table and sending out her maidservants to proclaim from the city heights. Now exegetes may argue that Wisdom is a feminine noun in Hebrew and therefore the use of the pronoun, but I personally find great delight in reading this very female text - Lady Wisdom, the builder, the cook and the hostess and her maidservants the evangelists, publicly proclaiming the invitation.
And who are invited? The ignorant and the foolish. Now, let's be honest with ourselves here, that's all of us. The trouble is, admitting to being ignorant and foolish is not really the thing to do unless it is humorous self-deprecation. I don't think human nature has changed much since the writer of Proverbs proclaimed this invitation - we much prefer to be seen as wise, intelligent, running our lives, up with everything, revered and respected. There is nothing wrong with any of this, but by inviting the ignorant and foolish, Lady Wisdom (and by association with the Gospel) Jesus, is inviting us precisely as mixed up, vulnerable people - broken people who desire to be whole.
Not only does Wisdom promise nourishment, but she gives a banquet, a wide, lavish feast, and she builds her home into which she invites us so that we, foolish and ignorant, struggling and desiring may walk in her ways and have life. There is no payment, there are no conditions.
As I reflect on today's celebration, the glory is that the Eucharist and its promise of life now and forever, its promise of abundant nourishment and a home now and for eternity is for us who try with all the desire with which we are capable, to love God now - just as we are. We are not asked to "get our act together" (whatever that means) and then come, we are invited as we are. We are not asked to have some esoteric secret knowledge. We are simply asked to come wholly - just as we are.
At the celebration of the Eucharist last night I looked around. We were such a mixed lot but the one thing we shared was that we were all "home" in the deepest sense of the word, even if our minds were wandering or bored or attentive. It is a characteristic of Jesus in the Gospels that so often he simply says, "Come" and it is in following that people change.
The Eucharist is central to Church in that it celebrates the great moment of Jesus' death and resurrection, that moment when the doors of Lady Wisdom's house were opened to us, never be shut to us. While we are still "on the way", Eucharist celebrates this and reminds us that even now no matter how dark our faith may feel at times, God is our home and feeds and loves us with the same exuberance and lavishness as will be for all eternity. The Eucharist allows us to hear Wisdom's maidservants calling to us in the streets to come for the doors are open and the table laid.
If in Eucharist we touch God who is our home, it should not be thought of in some exclusive sense. Sacraments show forth a greater Reality. We are reminded that home, bread, wine, food - ordinary, essential and treasured things of our every day creation are suffused with the presence of God. We need the sacred moment of Eucharist to remind us that we live in a sacred world.
The collect for today in the translation used in the Divine Office sums it all up for me:
Lord God,
You have prepared for those who love you
what no eye has seen, no ear has heard.
Fill our hearts with your love,
so that loving you above all and in all,
we may attain your promises
which the human heart has not conceived.
We make our prayer.....
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