Reflection on Bread of Heaven

“Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:24-35, NRSV).

Bread is fundamental to our lives. Bread contains the sustenance and substance to nurture our body.

Bread is a perfect beginning point for Contemplative prayer. All of the elements of creation are present in the making of bread. The sun, soil, rain, seed, flour, sugar, salt, and eggs. The farmer who plants the seeds to grow the wheat, and harvest it. The merchant. The baker. Heat for baking. All of these have their origin in God’s goodness. Those who do the work are co-creators with God.

In The Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 39 The Proper Amount of Food; he instructs the Community to have “a generous pound of bread” to be prepared for the meals of the day. The Desert Mothers and Fathers prepared a single loaf of bread to be used for the day.

God brings together everything that is good to give us life. Jesus, the Bread of Life, is the life of God in our common humanity who feeds us with the fullness of God. God knows all that is good and holy within us. God knows that we need help to draw closer to the Holy One through what is tangible. God gives us what we need to nourish and sustain our faith and life. God wants us to search for union with God with what is right in front of us in the here and now. We may not see God with our physical eyes or human logic. It is only by faith that we can reach out to grasp with the whole of ourselves, the God-Life that will transform us by that “amazing grace” to live into our true selves in Christ.

How is God the Bread of Heaven nourishing your life?

Amen.

Peace be with all who enter here.

Brother Anselm Philip King-Lowe, OSB

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Reflection on Emmaus

 

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:28-35 NRSV).

The Gospel we heard last Sunday about the encounter with the Risen Jesus and Thomas is one of my favorite Easter stories.   This Sunday’s reading of the Road to Emmaus and the breaking of the bread is also one of my favorites.  Among the reasons I love it, is that it is the chosen Gospel reading used at Vespers on Easter Day.  It is such a moving Gospel to read at that moment.

Imagine what this experience was like for those first Disciples.  The range of human emotions from the beginning to the end; coupled with the words and actions of the Risen Christ in the breaking of the bread are mysterious and wondrous.

The mystical moment in this story that is a source of deep contemplation is that Jesus listened intently to what was in their hearts, responded with truth and good counsel and fed their bodies and souls.  It is its own Lectio Divina moment.  The Word comes to us where we are, listens, responds and then grants us through God’s grace a vision of God’s Self that can be viewed only through the eyes of faith.  It is another example in which contemplative prayer is something we experience by God’s random act of grace, and leads us to God’s vision of how God sees us.  God the Holy Spirit comes to feed our hungry souls with Jesus, the Bread of Life and the Cup of Salvation.  It is up to us as to how we respond to this experience, and how much we trust God in the here and now to lead us forward.

“What can be sweeter to us, dear brethren, than this voice of the Lord inviting us?  Behold, in His loving kindness the Lord shows us the way of life” (St. Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries, p 2).

Is your heart burning as the Risen Christ speaks to you?

Amen.

Brother Anselm Philip King-Lowe,OSB

See: http://www.cos-osb.org

Reflection on Taste and See

 

Taste and see how gracious the Lord is: happy are those who find refuge in the Most High (Psalm 34:8. The New Zealand Prayer Book, p.234).

I remember the first time I became convinced in faith of the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.  It was that moment for me when I experienced for myself that I received all the Goodness of God when I receive The Holy Communion.  Since then, it is for me the ultimate source of spiritual nourishment.  God meets me where I am, whatever is going on, where ever it is happening; in the appearance of bread and wine.  It is both very simple and very profound.

The more I venture into a more contemplative way of prayer and spirituality,  the more I like to stay away from doctrines and dogmas.  By themselves, they are good; when they lead me to a deeper relationship with God and my neighbors.  However, I can also use them to become very self-centered.  I can put God into a box that is defined by my very limited understanding of God.  A relationship with God that bears fruit, leaves the door of faith open to discover the Presence of God anew in whatever way God comes to us, beckoning us to  search for union with God.  This is exactly what the Eucharist is.  It is opportunity to see and taste the goodness of God; to seek refuge in God in the midst of the sweet, the bitter, the simple and the complex.

To taste and see the graciousness of God and find refuge in the Most High, is to let the Holy Spirit expand our spiritual taste buds.  It means putting into practice though very hard it may be; those two words that are way too easy to read and write.  Let go. Let go of what we think things should be by our own standards.  Let go of wanting what we do not have; instead of being thankful and searching for union with God in whatever is in front of us in the here and now.

It means following the admonition of Saint Benedict to receive Christ in the guest in radical hospitality in chapter 53 of The Rule.  The Eucharist and the guest are two wonderful ways to taste and see the graciousness of God.

How are you opening yourself up to taste and see God’s graciousness, and find refuge in God?

Amen.

Brother Anselm Philip King-Lowe, OSB