else the journey will be too long for you

 

NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

125^th Anniversary of St. Mary, Dell Rapids

Saturday, 10 August 2024

 1 Kgs 19:4-8

Eph 4:30-5:2

Jn 6:41-51

Praised be Jesus Christ!

       From the 1^st Book of Kings today we read about the prophet Elijah fleeing away from certain death towards God’s holy mountain in the Sinai desert. It is interesting to note that Elijah is just running toward God, he has made no provision whatever for his journey, no food, no water, nothing. God sends an angel to sustain him on just a little bread and water, not much at all.

       …the angel of the Lord came back a second time, touched him, and ordered, “Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!’ He got up, ate, and drank; then strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

       Just a couple days ago, on August 6^th, we celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration with the Gospel account of Jesus clothed in light and flanked by Moses and Elijah showing Himself to Peter, James, and John. That same Elijah (from our first reading today) is the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, witnessing on Mount Tabor to who Jesus is as the Son of Man. Today, we have this image again of the same prophet under the broom tree in the desert, fleeing almost certain death by Jezebel, and strengthened by the angel of God with that little bit of bread and water, walking forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

       Be it noted that we are also just a few days out from the National Eucharistic Congress which was held in Indianapolis, Indiana! I suppose just like you could say that bread and water even if delivered by an angel is not exactly substantial fare given the task at hand, not all that nutritious, so you could say that the Eucharistic Congress alone cannot be expected to turn around the crisis of faith in the Church, bringing back all those millions of Catholics across America, also here in South Dakota, who in recent years have abandoned the practice of the faith. Lots of those who turn their backs on the Church do so pointing a finger at Church leadership, accusing them of neglect and saying the laity are not being fed and that is why so many have abandoned the practice of the faith.

       As important as food and drink are to survival, physical nourishment is not everything. As we read in the account of Jesus’ temptation by the devil in the desert, quoting the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy: The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” [Matt. 4:3-4] It is by far more important that we place ourselves at the feet of God and take in His every word.

       The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven… whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

       This weekend we are celebrating the 125^th anniversary of St. Mary’s here in Dell Rapids! Going back 100+ years is just long enough to go beyond the limits of what folks in the pews can remember personally. The adults of the founding generation of the parish are all gone, but you the subsequent generations, their sons and daughters, are still here. We are thankful that, unlike many other of those early towns in South Dakota, Dell Rapids today is much more than a clump of trees out on the prairie marking where settlers tried to make a start, but which had to be abandoned maybe because the railroad passed them by. We are thankful that St. Mary’s Catholic Church is much more than a windswept hilltop marked by a couple of tumbledown headstones and maybe a crucifix or statue fenced off in the corner of somebody’s pasture. That your parish has not only endured but prospered up until today is truly something! Under the protection of the Mother of God, St. Mary’s Parish has fed you, sustained you with the Bread of angels.

       We give thanks and unlike Jesus’ audience in the Gospel of John we neither murmur nor grumble. Unlike the Israel of the Exodus in the desert, we do not complain about the manna which does not satisfy. We understand what is truly important and we profess our faith in the God Who feeds us with His own hand.

       After his trek across the desert to Mount Horeb God Almighty commissioned Elijah and sent him back to Israel for the homestretch of his prophetic mission. He drew the prophet’s distracted gaze away from all the mighty sounds and events the mountain could provide, aiding him to focus on a tiny whispering sound no more impactful on the course of events than the little bit of bread and water, which had strengthened him in his flight from present danger across the desert to God.

       Ultimately speaking, St. Mary’s parish today giving thanks for all that has been has a choice as to whether you will attribute all you have and are to the God Who made and saved you, or whether you complain about it all being insufficient and not worth your generation’s attachment and enthusiasm. My prayer would be that you would confess the hand of God at work in your midst and confess the Lord Who works wonders even in the desert and with very little.

       May Mary wrap you in her mantle and urge you on, encouraged by those who have gone before you to set the pace for the next 125 years!

Praised be Jesus Christ!

PROPERANTES ADVENTUM DIEI DEI