Godspell

Homily for the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

On May 17, 1971, a Broadway musical, entitled Godspell, opened and has since been revived a number of times. It is review of the life of Jesus through his parables. The title of the play is actually an Old English word from which the word “Gospel” is derived. It means glad tidings or good news. It began as a project for drama students at Carnegie Mellon University. It involves a small cast of 10 actors, all of whom are on the stage throughout the entire production. Several of the musical numbers became very popular songs, in particular one called “Day by Day,” which is sung by Mary Magdalen.

If the word “Godspell” means good news, it goes without saying that “No one does Good News like the Gospel.” I have to admit that the Good News that Jesus proclaims today is just about the best good news I have ever heard. Jesus states unequivocally, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.” This particular Good News is profound. Jesus does not couch his message in a parable; he directly tells us who and what he is. He is the source of eternal life which is something for which every human being has hungered.

The people of the first century Middle East lived on a subsistence diet. Bread provided the greater part of the calories they consumed. It was essential to their lives. The Hebrew Scriptures are filled with stories about hunger and bread. The children of Israel were told to eat unleavened bread on the night of the Passover. When they found themselves wandering in a desert with nothing to fill their stomachs, they began grumbling or murmuring about how they were satisfied with the fleshpots of Egypt. God answered their murmuring with the Manna that appeared on the ground every morning. In the description in the Book of Exodus, manna is described as being "a fine, flake-like thing" like the frost on the ground, adding that it was like a coriander seed in size but white in color. Today we also hear the story of Elijah who is praying for death as he walks through a desert. He is being pursued by Jezebel who has sworn to kill him because he had shamed Ahaz and Jezebel before the people by killing their band of false prophets. God sent an angel to feed him and to urge him on in his journey.

St. John’s Gospel spends the entirety of chapter six of his Gospel explaining how Jesus has come to satisfy their hunger. We all hunger for several things. We hunger for sunshine and pleasant surroundings, for friendship and recognition and personal dignity and freedom, for purpose in our lives and, therefore, hope in the future. Jesus speaks of himself as the Bread of Life, which like the Manna in the desert and the hearth cakes given to Elijah, satisfies all of these hungers and fills us all with hope – the hope that we will live forever. Jesus embodies the fidelity that God exhibits by feeding the children of Israel as they wandered through the desert, the fidelity that God promises to Elijah when he accepted the role of prophet for Israel. In the Bread of Life, we are given a taste of the goodness of God and the goodness of human existence as God’s creation. The stories from the Hebrew Scriptures offer us nourishment and encouragement that is available through repeated meditation on the Scriptures, from retreats and spiritual direction and, most importantly, from the liturgy – the Eucharist.

The excerpt that we read from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians is curiously appropriate in that it reminds us that we have been empowered to live in and by the love of Christ. We can offer both physical nourishment as well as encouragement for those who live in despair. It is not difficult to see people and whole nations in our times who live under the shadow of despair, who are like Elijah, just waiting for death. Having received this hope ourselves, it is now ours to give to others – both to one another within the community of believers and also to the world at large where there is a great need of hope.

As I said earlier, this is profound Good News. Placing our faith in God’s fidelity, believing this Good News, taking to heart these glad tidings, we approach the table of the Lord together in the hope that we will all sit at the wedding feast of heaven. As we go forth from this place having eaten the Bread of Life, we are tasked with spreading the Good News, the Gospel, to all who are in need of hope.