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The best starting place for a reflection on the Living Eucharist sub-theme “sent” is the first reading. This passage, which is one of the most important Old Testament texts, tells us about the call and mission of Moses.
God has decided to save his people from slavery in Egypt and lead them to the Land of Canaan. Appearing to Moses in a bush that is burning, but not being consumed, God asks him to go to the king of Egypt and demand the release of the Hebrew slaves. Moses, who at this point has settled into a simple but secure life in the land of Midian, is reluctant to accept the mission he is given. He says it is too much for him, but God rejects this excuse. Moses is sent to Egypt with the assurance that he will bring the people of Israel back to the place where he is now standing.
You know the rest of the story: Moses accepts the mission given to him. He goes to Egypt, where he struggles not only with Pharaoh but also with his own people. The power of God working in him overcomes all these difficulties and he accomplished what he first thought he could not do. He leads the children of Israel back to Mt. Sinai, where they enter into a covenant relationship with God.
When we encounter God in our weekly Eucharistic celebration, we too are given a mission. Every time we are gathered around the Lord’s Table and are nourished with his body and blood, we are sent back into the world to lead others to God. Like Moses, we find ourselves reluctant to accept the mission given us. It seems beyond our reach. We go back into the world, but do not accomplish the work that God has given us to do.
In such a state, we can be compared to the barren fig tree that Jesus describes in today’s Gospel. It was planted in the vineyard to produce fruit, but all it does is take up space. The master of the vineyard, who in the parable represents God the Father, wants to chop it down. The vine dresser, who represents Christ, asks that the barren tree be given one more year to fulfill the purpose for which it was planted. He will cultivate it and nourish it in the hopes that it will bear fruit. If not, it will be cut down.
Reading this text during Lent, we hear it as an offer of a second chance. If up until now we have been unwilling or unable to carry out our part in the work of salvation, we are given a new opportunity to do so. Christ himself will help us. Indeed, in every celebration of the Eucharist, he cultivates us with his word and nourishes us with his body and blood to give us both the strength and the ability to do the work we are sent to do.
As we begin the final year of the diocesan Living Eucharist Initiative, we are called to seize the opportunity given to us. From the very Eucharist in which we hear these texts proclaimed, we are sent to do God’s work in the world. Perhaps we need to make some changes. Perhaps we need to renew our commitment to mission. We all need to make our lifestyle, our good deeds, and even the very words that come out of our mouths, a perpetual summons that draws those around us to encounter God and to take up their part in his divine plan of salvation.
