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Not by bread alone does man live

(Dt 8:3)

            From the last week of April to the first week of May, I attended a series of meetings in Bangkok and Hanoi. In Bangkok, I attended a high-level meeting called by the International Labor Organization to discuss the social impacts of the regional financial and economic crisis. From there I proceeded to Hanoi to attend a meeting of the ASEAN ministers of labor to discuss, among others, how ASEAN could mitigate the adverse impact on labor and employment of the current crisis. Then I met with Vietnamese officials to discuss preparations for the ASEAN Summit to be held in Hanoi in December this year.

            As in all ministerial-level meetings, protocol and ceremony were as important as the substantive discussions. As the ministers moved from one function to another, there was the usual motorcade of Mercedes Benzes displaying the flags of member countries. A Benz flying the ASEAN flag was assigned to me. We called on the President of Vietnam and attended innumerable official lunches, dinners and receptions. As usual, the protocol officers dictated our movement, and liaison officers were always there to attend to all our needs. The luxury of the hotel suite, the pomp, and the attention accorded to us were almost enough to blur, even at least momentarily, one’s perception of his true identity – which was that of a mere servant of the Lord.

            My brothers and sisters, I go to such meetings many times a year. It is part of my secular job. Therefore I always feel the need to ask God for the grace to keep my feet firmly planted on the ground. Thus I always bring my Bible and rosary and Christian books during such trips. Then after the beehive of the day’s activity, I settle into the quiet of my room to read a book, reflect on the Scripture, pray the Psalm and recite the rosary.

   One evening in Hanoi, as I put down Fr. Lawrence Boadt’s book, Reading the Old Testament, I realized that it was already one o’clock in the morning. I took my rosary from the bedside table and knelt beside the bed. As I ended my evening prayers, the words of Deuteronomy 8:3 flashed across my mind: Not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord (Dt 8:3).

            How true indeed! I thought. As we accumulate riches, receive honors and acquire power and privileges, it becomes easier for us to forget that we do not live by bread alone! That, without God’s grace, these things can lead us to death, a spiritual death. That unless we constantly remind ourselves that life comes only from the word of God, it would be easy for us to be deceived. We need God’s grace to realize how meaningless the pomp, power and privileges! How meaningless the honor given by mere mortals! How meaningless one’s life without God!

As soon as man is alone by himself, he starts to recognize that indeed not by bread alone does he live! In solitude, away from the pomp and the pageant, he feels his heart craving for one thing alone – his Creator. And thus he begins to reflect on the impermanence of his existence on earth. Then he realizes more fully that he is a mere pilgrim in this world, a tourist in a country not his own, a traveler whose intended final destination is the Promised Land.

            In his book, Fr. Boadt observes that the whole Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) looks forward to the possession of the Promised Land. Genesis begins with the story of creation told in mythological forms and continues with the story of the patriarchs who received God’s promise. Exodus relates the story of how God delivered his chosen people from slavery in Egypt and led them to accept a covenant so that he would be their God and they would be his people. Leviticus lists the laws and commandments that God gave to this newly sanctified people to obey as their share in the covenant relationship. Numbers describes more laws and regulations about the twelve tribes and their organization as a holy people on the march then continue the story of Israel’s wanderings in the desert. Deuteronomy distills the meaning of the exodus event and the desert journey. It ends with the death of Moses, as the chosen people are about to enter the Promised Land.

For the Jews, the Pentateuch is the most sacred part of the Bible. To them, it is “the teaching” par excellence, the Torah or the will of God for Israel. For us Christians, the Pentateuch is a story about Yahweh’s relationship with his chosen people. It is a story of a people’s willing response in faith to take on the obligations to worship and obey only one God. It is a story of human rebellion and divine redemption. It is a preview of the coming of the new Moses, one who is infinitely greater than Moses, our Lord Jesus Christ.

           My brothers and sisters, as I reflect on the five Books of the Pentateuch, I see how they mirror our short life on earth, our own journey of faith to the Promised Land. I even see glimpses of our new life in the Holy Spirit, our new birth, in the community of Couples for Christ.

   Our life on earth begins at birth. God creates us and gives us life. In baptism we have our exodus from the slavery of sin. During baptism, we make a covenant with God. We become the new people of God. Then we begin our lifelong journey towards the Promised Land. But just like the old people of God, our journey is characterized by one series of “murmurings” after another. As described in the Book of Exodus and the Book of Numbers, the people of God grumbled and rebelled against him during the years in the desert. They murmured against the hard conditions of the wilderness and the authority and leadership of Moses. We are exactly like them. But somehow we persevere, and soon we reach the end of our journey. The Promised Land is just one breath away. 

            When we join Couples for Christ, we begin a new life in the power of the Holy Spirit. Like the old people of God, we enter into a covenant with the Lord. And we begin our journey to the Promised Land. But along the way, we find it difficult to persevere. We start to murmur against the authority and leadership of the elders and grumble about the demands of service. Sometimes, we even feel some longing for the “bad, old days,” just as the Israelites, faced with hardships in the desert, wanted to return to their former enslavement in Egypt.

Like the old people of God, we will, sooner or later, be crossing over to the Promised Land. But we can enter the Promised Land only by the grace of God. Eternal life can be attained only through the “word that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord.” We cannot live by bread alone! And certainly we cannot attain eternal life by the “bread” that the world offers and provides – the pomp, the pageant, the power and the privileges. We can enter the Promised Land solely through the one and only Redeemer, the new Moses of our own “personal and spiritual exodus,” the Word of God who is there “in the beginning,” the Bread of Life who alone can offer eternal nourishment, our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us therefore listen to him. And hearing, let us obey.

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