David

Complaining about life’s woes is a fairly common human experience. We find it in today’s Exodus account of the Israelites wandering in the desert. Although they had been freed from slavery, they now find themselves in search of food and bitterly complaining of their situation to Moses and Aaron. Yet, we also know how the story ends: the Lord sends them heavenly bread, but only after they have been tested to learn the lesson that God does not abandon the chosen people.

St Jerome said: “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” On the back cover of my Bible, this famous line is printed beneath an image of the fourth-century hermit-saint in his study. Scriptures in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin are open on desks behind him. He seems to be taking a break from his translation project to pull the thorn out of the lion’s paw.

Two common images presented to us in the Scriptures are those of shepherds and banquets. First and foremost, God shepherds his people Israel by caring for them like sheep, keeping them from danger, and preparing a banquet for them.

Giovanni di Pietro di Bernadone was wealthy, popular and influential. Yet, he renounced his wealth, privilege and lavish lifestyle to follow Jesus and to proclaim the good news of the Gospel. Francis of Assisi, as we now know him, embraced poverty, dressing himself in a coarse woolen tunic, the dress of poor Umbrian peasants.