Jesus is our Viaticum!

Have you ever hit the wall? Have you ever hit the wall? Now, I am not talking about put your fist through dry-wall. Although I remember doing that when I was young. My brother and I were wrestling in the hallway and some body parts went through the sheet-rock. Yes our parents weren’t very happy. They said we were too old for that. We were 20.

Anyhow, the wall that I am referring to is that wall that after expending a lot of energy, you feel completely drained and you can not carry on.

When I was in Rome, I decided to run a marathon. I’ve only run one in my life. That was enough. Well, this marathon took my past the Colosseum, St. Peter’s Basilica, and all the historic sights. I had prepared and trained pretty well and ran the first 18 miles with little difficulty. You see the first 18 miles is easy. It’s the last 8 that get you. Normally, the body is not made to go so far and so it requires a lot of mental toughness. For me, I hit the wall at mile 20. My toenails were bruised, ankles were swollen, knees were swollen, my hamstring that I had pulled 6 months before was twitching, and I had no energy left. I knew that I had hit the wall. I felt like I could not keep going. I would not finish the race.

In today’s first reading, we hear of Elijah, the great and mighty prophet. He had just hit the wall too. He had been on a journey to Mount Horeb and had been out in the desert. And he said, "This is enough, O LORD! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers." How had he got to such a place. Well, the king was after him and wanted him dead. Indeed, the Elijah was on the run in the desert. He had just witnessed one of the greatest miracles. He had challenged the priests and priestesses of Baal to call fire upon a pile of wood. God ignited his pyre and not theirs. He had won and killed them. The king did not like this and was after him. So the great and mighty prophet Elijah had hit the wall and could not go on.

We have all hit the wall. It might not be running a marathon or climbing a mountain, but perhaps we have had to endure too much suffering and we feel that we can not handle anymore. Perhaps, we are depressed and feel like no one is there for us, that we are all alone. Perhaps, we have been seeking a job for way too long. In all of these cases, we hit the wall and we feel like we can not go one.

In those moments, we turn to God. We cry out and say Lord I need your strength. Grant me power. Help me to overcome this feeling of loneliness and futility. God answers these prayers.

When, I went on a pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal, I met this man named Armando. You know Fatima. Fatima is the place in the early 1900’s that Mary appeared to the three young children, Francisco, Lucia, and Yacinta. Well, Armando runs this hotel and seeks to tell others about the love of Jesus and Mary. Indeed while talking with me, he had seen a group of about 100 spanish teens and he said that he had to talk with them. He began to tell them about his story of conversion. He had grown up in Fatima. He knew the stories of the appearance of the Mother of God. However, as he matured into adulthood he had abandoned the faith that had been handed down to him. He chased after all the things that the secular world could provide and he felt empty. At one point after experiencing several tragedies, he found himself in a Church in Canada. He was ready to kill himself and something led him to this Church. Before the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Armando cried out before God. Just like Elijah and something happened. He began to be changed. He felt different. He had hope. He could carry on. This led him to a life of change which has culminated in him standing before me now telling me how much God loves me.

He continued to tell us that the great church that stands before us was built in the 1950’s and the last thing that was built was the bell-tower, the last thing that was placed was a statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the last thing they did was hoist a young boy to the top to kiss the heart of the statue. He was that boy. The Blessed Mother had brought him home.

In our first reading God provided for Elijah with some water and some cake. I was wondering what type of cake. Was it Tres Leches? Well, it was more of a type of bread. This bread and water gave him the energy to be able to finish his journey to Mount Horeb.

The Church has long understood this bread and wine as a foreshadowing of the Eucharist. In the Gospel today, Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.” Have you ever thought about what this means? Jesus is the bread from heaven. He is the one that would give us strength to carry on. He is the one that died and rose so that when we suffer he is with us helping to carry the load. Have you ever though about what if someone didn’t eat the bread of life? I am the living bread that came down from heaven, whoever eats this bread will live for ever.

In the ancient times soldiers would take food for a long journey. This ration would be called a viaticum. Food for the via, the way. The Church has long understood that the Eucharist is the food for the spiritual journey. It was called viaticum - our strength for our spiritual journey. Today, viaticum refers to the last time someone receives the Holy Eucharist. It is the viaticum for them as they go from this world to the next.

Without the strength provided every Sunday by the Eucharist we would not be able to love. We would not be able to pray. We would start to hit the wall with no hope to overcome it. This is why the Church says that we are obligated to come to Sunday Mass every Sunday. If we don’t we start to spiritually starve and we die. Yet, if we do receive than Jesus’ promise rings true. “Whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

When we partake of this bread of life, which is truly the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus gives us his strength to help others when they have hit the wall. We can listen to them, help them, serve them, and pray for them. We can let them know that they are not alone.

On the 20th mile of the Roman Marathon, when I knew that I could not take another step forward, I heard a voice. “Jason, you can do it” The voice echoed. I turned to its source. I saw a man dressed as a priest. He had black dress shoes, black pants, a black clerical shirt, and a black sweater wrapped around his waste. He must have seen the look of desperation in my eyes because just a few moments later I saw a movement and Tom Niehaus was on my left running with me. He said, you can do it Jason. I will run the rest of this race with you. He ran the next 6 miles with me and when we were close to the finish line, he said all right Jason. This finish line is right here. You can see it from here. You can make it now. He was my viaticum because Jesus was his viaticum.

Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.” Truly food for our journey!