The Eucharist

At Holy Trinity in Glen Burnie this weekend, Fr. Headley's insights stimulated my thoughts beyond the ideas that he actually expressed. The Lord will use a good homily to that effect on a prayerful and reflective person when they're open to the Spirit, I suppose. I'll paraphrase and expand on his thoughts a bit, then move on to my own. The gospel reading was from John 6.

After beginning with a few observations about the role of Wisdom in revealing the Truth, Fr. Headley moved on to an observation that you'd have to be spiritually deaf to miss from the gospel reading, pointing out how Jesus invoked the manna as the forerunner of the Eucharist/himself, and himself as the manna. Obviously many in his audience had a problem with this analogy; having known him in the context of his earthly life, and unable to accept what he was telling them about his divine nature, they couldn't grasp that he was more than an inspiring teacher but in fact the very nourishment they needed for eternal life. Too, he was invoking one of their most treasured images and applying it to himself, in a way that seemed preposterous on the surface. Throw in the likelihood that many of them may not have believed in the possibility of life beyond death, and it is no wonder they couldn't accept what he was saying.

Fr. Headley went on to describe our experiences of earthly banquets of providential love, if you will, especially those in which we encounter a tangible sense of loving acceptance in the context of food, but even "love banquets" beyond these food-based celebrations. Each of these, he suggested, are for us metaphors and precursors to the Eucharistic banquet which Jesus offers us and in which we find the fulfillment of their promise.

It seems to me that this idea takes on even more depth in the context of the timeless nature of God, and how that intertwines with the human, timebound experience of salvation history. It isn't just that Christ fulfilled the Jewish Passover. Rather, God, simultaneously seeing how we (would) treat his Son when he walks on this earth, and how we (would) respond to the gospel millenia after his resurrection, provides a deliverance from slavery for the people from whom the Son will receive his human flesh, which will serve to allow us to recognize him as he later reinvokes those images for us. This has been the purpose of every revelation of God throughout salvation history. Further, it is the purpose and role of every revelation of love which we experience in our lives. It isn't merely that Christ and the Eucharist fulfill the deepest meaning of these other events, but rather that the ultimate purpose of each event is to allow us to recognize and accept Jesus as the very nourishment without which we cannot live.

Even the doubting we may experience, however deep and complete it may be, serves this purpose.

My "Jewish" dream

Last month I had a dream. A young Jewish man who was beyond the usual age for a particular music study scholarship was presenting an opera he'd composed, with musical and dramatical themes deeply rooted in his experiences of being Jewish. The primary instrument was the pipe organ (?? - dreams!). The audience loved it, and rewarded the composer with a lengthy and raucous ovation. While the applause was still ringing, a member of the school of study to which the young man aspired approached him to offer his congratulations. The young man couldn't help but ask if it might serve as a successful audition for his admission. The teacher responded in the negative, observing that the environment actually would serve to ruin the young man's pure insight. He told the young man that he was sure that he could succeed in their program, but that he felt it would destroy the best part of him. "You may have a positive effect on New York," he said, "but New York will have a far more negative effect on you."

I'm paraphrasing, because I've let too much time pass since the dream.

When I woke up, I thought how utterly ridiculous it was for a Jewish man to have misgivings concerning New York. There are thriving Jewish communities in New York.

I came to realize that my dream might be a metaphor for spiritual life.

There are many areas in which a spiritual person can have a positive effect. But in immersing himself in them, he may well lose more than he contributes.

I'm not a spiritual separatist. However, there are many places in which I should not dwell.