Readings:
Ex 16:2-4, 12-15
Ps 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54
Eph 4:17, 20-24
Jn 6:24-35

Curious to explore the connection between today’s readings and the Olympics, I turned to Magisterium AI. This Ecclesiastical Artificial Intelligence, with its vast knowledge base of “more than 6,700 documents of the Catholic Church that fall within the Extraordinary and Ordinary Magisterium,” was the perfect guide. The results it presented were not only insightful but also pleasantly surprising, sparking a new perspective on the familiar readings.

I will spare you what it said. Feel free to ask it yourself. I will, however, begin with its opening statement.

The readings from Exodus, Psalm 78, Ephesians, and John profoundly reflect on the themes of sustenance, identity, and transformation, which can be beautifully paralleled with the spirit of the Olympics.

I am not much into sports, but as we enter the final week of the summer Olympics, I can appreciate the hardships and struggles, the abstinences and fasting, the training and exercise, as well as the camaraderie and team spirit needed to become an athlete worthy of the Olympics. Magisterium AI calls this “a beautiful metaphor for the Christian Journey.” St. Paul would undoubtedly agree as he encourages us to “put away the old self” and “to be renewed in the spirit.” The new self we are called to be in Christ demands abstinence and fasting, training and spiritual exercise, fellowship, and community building.

While the “Olympics celebrate the triumph of the human spirit,” our Christian journey celebrates the triumph of the Spirit of God in our lives, the Bread of Life that is Christ Jesus and God’s faithfulness and generosity. While the people grumbled and complained in the wilderness, God stretched out his generous hand and fed them with manna. This “bread from heaven” is the “bread of angels” given to humankind by our divine trainer.

Just as all Olympic athletes rely on a trainer to guide them, we, too, have a spiritual guide in Christ, Jesus. A good coach understands their sport because they have trained in it and played it. Our Coach, Jesus, is no different. He lived our struggle, faced our temptations, and learned obedience as he lived and preached God’s Reign. In doing so, he became the “bread of God” that comes “down from heaven and gives life to the world.” His teachings and example serve as a constant source of guidance and inspiration on our spiritual journey.

All trainers provide their athletes with proper nutrition, nurturing and caring for them during their Olympic journey. Christ, Jesus, does the same for us, his athletes. He nurtures and cares for us in the Eucharist. In this way, he is our proper nutrition, the bread of life and the chalice of salvation. He invites us not to adoration but to imitation. The journey he traveled is our journey; his way is our way. His life enhances our own, making us a “new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.”

I began with Magisterium AI’s first paragraph, so I will end with its final thought. It is a good one reminding us that we are not Olympians, we are a Eucharistic people.

As the world watches the Olympics, may it also be a reminder of the greater race we are called to run as Christians. Let us seek the true bread that gives life, embrace our identity in Christ, and strive for the eternal prize that awaits us. In doing so, we become a Eucharistic people, nourished and transformed by the love of God, ready to face the challenges of life with faith and perseverance.

Gilberto Cavazos-González, OFM