Homilies
You are what you eat!
A cob, a roll, a bun, a barm, a batch, a bap - what do you call them?
I guess, you've noticed that I'm not local here. Im originally from Lincoln, I've been to university in Sheffield, I've lived in Cheltenham, The Forest of Dean and the Isle of Wight, Chalmers, is a Scottish name, my mum is from Rotherham, my dad has family in Halifax and I have close friends from Northumberland. A really mixed bag of influence and experience, yet whichever word is used, it is easily identifiable as bread.
Bread has a common understanding, you know where you are with bread. It may be white, brown, wholegrain, sourdough, tiger crust or naan but for most of us, I would think that the very idea of bread, evokes a similar sensory response. It's filling, wholesome, satisfying, comforting and yet it's a basic, simple food. It can be so many different things and so versatile in its use whilst satisfying so many people in many different ways. It can be gourmet, a la bruschetta, it can be toasted, it can be eaten plain or dressed up with fillings in a sandwich. It can build up those who are sick or tittify the food of those who have plenty. Crouton anyone?
Last week we heard how God provided for the Israelites in the desert, with Manna - bread from heaven and this week Jesus is telling the crowds who have followed him, that He, himself, is the bread come down from Heaven which will not perish as the Manna did, but will sustain us for eternal life with God.
So what does this mean for us? We are all different, still all children of God, yet different. I am left handed, one out of four of my children has auburn hair, I'm short and others are tall. Yet Jesus is the bread of life to all of us. Tall or short; Rich or poor, regardless of our status, ethnicity, sexuality or gender.
In our different ways, we can often try to dress Him up and make him as versatile as we think WE need; Jesus as bread for gratitude, a different kind for interceding for us, a different kind for our Sunday best as opposed to everyday bread. When we look at the media and the news stories from around the world, we can often see a need for one 'type' of Jesus for the needy and a very different type for greedy.
But however versatile we want to try and make Jesus to fit our own needs, we must never forget that he is THE one and only basic, wholesome, comforting staple for life. The same one, sent from Heaven for all. Offering fulfilment for all our spiritual needs.
Bread is bread. Jesus is our bread of life. Illustrated in many forms by many different people, just think of all the different cultural representations of Jesus from around the world but he is always the same – God in Human Form. We cannot and should not try to mould Jesus to our own needs only, excluding those who don't fit, but we should be mindful that Jesus will seem to appear differently to others according to their own needs and identities and that is ok. At the end of the day, whether panini, loaf or chapati, it is all bread. And Jesus is the same, eternally for all, for those who have been, are now and are yet to come. The Bread of life, sent down from Heaven.