Back when I began blogging here, one of my primary foci was spirituality and, especially, reflections on Daily Office readings. I haven’t done that in a while, and I think it’s about time I did so again. My religious life over time has fluctuated closer to my center and away from it; as I continue my formation as a Franciscan, I intentionally bring it close—even into—my center. For those who haven’t followed me in the past, and for those who may have forgotten, I am an Episcopalian. Our Book of Common Prayer contains daily services called the Daily Office, and prescribes scripture readings for those services in a two year cycle (the Sunday services use a three year cycle). For the most part, the readings I reference in these spirituality posts will be from the Daily Office cycle.
One final note before I dive into today’s readings. All that I write here are my own opinions and musings, and do not represent official teachings of the church. Certainly, what I’ve been taught and what I’ve read influence what I write, but I want to make it clear that if I’ve wandered into theological error, it’s entirely on me.
Yesterday was the Feast of the Epiphany, traditionally celebrated as the day that the three wise men (kings in some traditions) arrived at Jesus’ birthplace to recognize and venerate the new-born messiah. So, today we enter into the Epiphany season, which lasts until Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. Today is also one of the few “open” days in the liturgical calendar, in that we aren’t celebrating a saint’s day or other special occasion. The readings for today are Deuteronomy 8:1-3, Colossians 1:1-14, and John 6:30-33, 48-51.
The aphorism “man does not live by bread alone” originates with this Deuteronomy passage. Here, Moses is lecturing his followers at the very end of their arduous forty-year journey, reminding them that all they’ve been through is to test their readiness, their worthiness, to enter the Promised Land—a privilege, by the way, denied to Moses himself. He specifically reminds them of the gift of manna, the bread from heaven that fed the hungry people when no mundane bread could be made. Our spirits need feeding as much as our bodies do, and God’s miracle to feed His people is as much spiritual relief as it is physical relief.
In the passage from John’s gospel, Jesus extends this further. He reminds his listeners that manna didn’t come from Moses, it came from God. Jesus then points to himself as the bread of life (foreshadowing the last supper) sent from God to feed His people’s hungry spirits. It’s a powerful call to partake of the Eucharist, a reminder that the bread of Communion (questions of transubstantiation notwithstanding) is a physical representation of that spiritual feeding, bringing the substance of Jesus into ourselves. Christ is within each of us; it is in every human being, even those we might call enemies—even those who hate us. To eat of the bread of life is to connect to Christ’s physical presence in the world, to realize that the Incarnation isn’t limited to a 30-odd year period 2000 years ago. Jesus is still here. God still walks among us.
