August 15 : Proper 15 Julian Whitney
“Con pan y vino se anda el camino”.
“With bread and wine, you can walk your path.”
We seem to have a theme of bread running through this time of the Church’s year. We heard about bread snowing from heaven – Manna. Two weeks ago many of my friends from The Church of England online streaming YouTube service were baking Lammas for Loaf Mass Day; a festival in the liturgical calendar to mark the blessing of the First Fruits of harvest, with a loaf of bread being brought to the church for this purpose.
Last week’s online service was held in front of a bakery! Today, for the fourth Sunday in a row we are reading from the sixth chapter of John and his comments on the bread of life.
Today, Proverbs tells of a woman who has mixed her wine. Perhaps she had added a little honey to the wine that was beginning to sour in the heat of Judea / Israel? Maybe she has added some spices? She calls to the simple, quotidian, people, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.”
Ephesians warns us not to get drunk on wine as this is debauchery, a loss of moral values, sinful behaviour.
I have heard of a missionary in Africa who was horrified and shocked to hear of a people who ate flesh and drank blood! Cannibalism! Humans eating other humans! He later discovered that they were Christians🤣
As he often did, Christ shocked the Jews, who were forbidden to drink blood, even of animals.
However, we as Christians are part of the Church, the bread, the living body of Christ. He came down from Heaven and was made a man, to show us how to live. By dying on the cross, he shed his blood for us so that the power of The Holy Sprit may give us the strength to make (God’s) kindgom come on Earth as it is in Heaven.
John mentions no communion in The Last Supper. Of course, the Holy Eucharist is an important part of Christian life; the body and blood of Christ giving us courage and strength to “..go forth into the world rejoicing in the power of the Spirit.” Maybe John wants us to be Christians in Daily Action?
Perhaps, “As often as ye shall eat it, as often as ye shall drink it. Do this in remembrance of me.” Means that every time we have something to eat and get a drink; coffee and doughnuts, tea and scones, beer and ‘Edamame’, whatever! We should remember Christ. There is no Eucharist today, we look forward to September the fifth when we can celebrate Holy Communion here with Reverend Misa. But we don’t have to wait for three weeks to “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.” Let’s Walk in God’s Way today.
