Sunday Homily, 5-25-08
Readings: Deuteronomy 8, 2-16; Psalm 147; 1 Corinthians 10, 16-17; John 6, 51-58.
Deuteronomy: The fifth & last book of the Torah. The scene: Moses & the Hebrews are in the desert just outside the promised land, the land of the Canaanites, whom they are going to kick out and kill. Moses is reviewing their journey from Egypt.
The belief that Yahweh punishes and corrects us is not so common today as Moses suggests to the people. We will read the whole section to get the sense more clearly.
The Banquet
A while back somebody asked me what was the best meal we had in Italy. It took me a nano second to remember. It took place the afternoon we arrived in Venice.
We had just gotten off the train from spending two days with Chebino & Lydia in Pordenone & Aviano. In fact, if I had eaten the two evenings with Michael I might have considered these meals some of the best, because when Michael walks into these 2 favorite places, the owner comes out and everyone greets him. He gets all this affection because he is so friendly & outgoing.
Consequently, everything was cordial & delightful & we received the best of everything. My only problem was that I don't eat after about 4:00, to eliminate acid reflux without having to take pills. So I just enjoyed the event and a glass of red wine.
In Venice, however, it was early afternoon when we walked out of the train station and onto the famous Grand Canal, leaving one world and entering one of my most favorite dream worlds. We descended the broad stairs, turned left at the canal, and walked up one of the main pedestrian walkways of the Cannaregio suburb. At a small fork in the walkway we went left, crossed a couple of small canals on up & down bridges, took a right across the last canal, and arrived at our convent.
After we had been received with all sorts of hospitality and settled, I asked the portress Magda to recommend a good, reasonable cafe. "Turn right out the door," she says, "cross the bridge to the left, and at the next canal go right and look for the tables on the edge of the canal. The place is called Ristorante Diana on Fontamenta della Misericordia. Ask for Omer."
When we get there, the guy is all friendly and we take a window seat inside because the sun is on the fondamenta tables. I tell him we come with Magda's recommendation. "What is good today?" He recommends this and that, and we begin with a seafood salad, pasta, have two varieties of fish he said were caught that day, some dessert, and finish off with Samabuca, my first ever, and some small glasses of lemon liquor.
Folks, we must have been there three hours, a bit beyond my usual finishing hour even though we had begun about 3:00. It was the best. Until I asked for the check. I had never asked Omer just how much each course was costing, trusting in Magda and in Omer. We paid over $75 per person for that meal, probably the most expensive I've ever had in my whole life.
I talk about this today for three reasons:
- It is Memorial Day & time for picnics, special meals, & banquets.
- We are celebrating the Eucharist today.
- The Eucharist is basically a banquet and cannot be appreciated for what it really is unless we throw a banquet occasionally.
I think a banquet involves three elements for it to come off, place, intention, & time.
- The place can be almost anywhere as long as it has some special quality, grandmother's dining room, a campfire in Yosemite, a Fondamenta della Misericordia in Venice, a Saturday afternoon on a patio, or a Sunday evening around a swimming pool. Even an El Fenix or a Chili's
- When I say intention, I mean somebody has to set it up, say, "Welcome, let's do it." Set a date, a place, and a time. Chebino sees his fly buddy and family in a restaurant and invites them all for dinner the next night.
- Time is probably the most important. It cannot take place in less than an hour, I would suggest. Two or three would be better & best. Trouble with some restaurants like Chili's is you get a bill dumped on your table just as you take the last few bites of the main course. In Italy you may sit there the whole afternoon and they still won't bring a bill until you ask for it. Taking time at the banquet is the exact opposite of fast food or eating while driving.
Never enjoy a long meal and you are missing one of the joys of life, and the Eucharist certainly can't be appreciated.
If we did not have a Eucharist ritual, I think I would invent one. The Eucharist attempts to take a banquet or special meal and put it into a context where we place ourselves into contact with the God of the Universe. It is based on knowing how to banquet.
When was your last special meal? Your next?
AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-05-25.mp3