Bread of Life
By Brian Crawford
Elijah was unable to complete a long, dangerous journey ahead of him and had wished God to end his life. Instead, God sent an angel to him and fed him with bread from heaven. Fueled from this, Elijah went on to endure a voyage that lasted forty days and forty nights. A parallel story takes place in the Gospel where Jesus endures a fasting that lasted forty days and forty nights. The gospel states that this fasting period also lasted forty days and forty nights. According to the Gospel of Saint Luke in the fourth chapter, Jesus goes on this fast after being filled or fueled by the Holy Spirit. At the end of this long fast, Jesus becomes hungry, and that is where Satan tempts him. The same can therefore be said about our own lives. We are tempted at our weakest states when we too are running low on spiritual food or become distant from God. To fill this hunger and resist temptation and our wicked sinful nature, we need not to look to the gifts or food of this world but to the bread sent from Heaven; for it was the bread sent from God that gave Elijah the strength to travel forty days and forty nights. It was the power of the Holy Spirit that filled Jesus and gave him the power to survive a forty-day and forty-night fast, and to repel the temptations of the evil one.
We, like Elijah and Jesus, have trials in our own lives and can withstand those trials in the same way. Jesus explains how we are each given the bread from Heaven and that is through Christ. In the Gospel According to Saint John in the sixth chapter, Jesus instructs the people in Capernaum at least four times that he IS the bread of life and through him alone strength is given and eternal life is found. This explains the significance of Holy Communion and how to strengthen the spirit. In verse 53 and 54 (53), Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink of his blood, you have no life in you. (54) Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.”
With this I feel it is very plain to see that the Eucharist is put in place for a very specific and vital reason. It connects us with Christ by connecting and binding us to him and recharges us allowing us to survive and grow even through the most discouraging and challenging conditions. It keeps us with Christ and a part of him, and opens a pathway to eternal life with he and the father forever.
Amen.
We, like Elijah and Jesus, have trials in our own lives and can withstand those trials in the same way. Jesus explains how we are each given the bread from Heaven and that is through Christ. In the Gospel According to Saint John in the sixth chapter, Jesus instructs the people in Capernaum at least four times that he IS the bread of life and through him alone strength is given and eternal life is found. This explains the significance of Holy Communion and how to strengthen the spirit. In verse 53 and 54 (53), Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink of his blood, you have no life in you. (54) Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.”
With this I feel it is very plain to see that the Eucharist is put in place for a very specific and vital reason. It connects us with Christ by connecting and binding us to him and recharges us allowing us to survive and grow even through the most discouraging and challenging conditions. It keeps us with Christ and a part of him, and opens a pathway to eternal life with he and the father forever.
Amen.
Immigrants
By Brian Crawford
We here in da steel city are losing our identity and our jobs. Yinz guys might think I’m just jaggin ya, but there’s a real problem here and its
language and borders. I’ve stood by as this problem has grown, but can do so no longer.
Last week, at work, we were trying ta reddup da store at da end of the night and I asked a co-worker for a gumband. She starred at me like a deer in da headlights and asked me what I was talkin’ about. I replied, “a gumband. You know, a gumband.” She stood there speechless until I finally was able to explain
what I was trying to tell her. We came to a word she understood in her native tongue, a rubber band. She had the nerve to ask me what a gumband was and why
we would ever say that as if her way was superior or something special. This final offense, after years of oppression by these aliens has brought me to action.
I say to yinz, the people of picksburgh, it’s time. It’s time to stand up to these jaggoffs, these outsiders. If yinz traveled down there up 79 and out ta Cleveland, do you think they’d change their language for you? No, they’d tell ya ta get lost and throw you out with the worsh.
Daily I ravel da streets of dahntahn, and see more and more foreigners defile our fine city with their smooth talk and outlandish words, expecting us to change our ways to suit them. Even da Giant Iggle puts foreign friendly signs down der isles. Next time you’re der, just take a buggy and give it a look. You will see what I mean. Even da point, da strip, Mt Worshington, all flocked by tourist types spewing their vernacular filth.
These people move into town, take our jobs and push their stuffy language on us. Once you make some concessions, its a slippy slope before they run da show. It’s time, yinz people to stand up! It’s time to take a stand and secure our borders! I propose a plan, yinz people of da burgh, a plan to secure our borders and make our language the official and legal language of the land. It’s time to implode the liberty tubes, destroy the west end bridge and build a wall, yes a wall across the tenth street bypass! These outsiders are surrounding us and soon, like being trapped in a jaggerbush, there will be no way out...
It is not time to sit idle and lose our beautiful city; we must stand up and fight! I ask you, what would Myron say about our lofty defense? \ What would Arnold Slick from Turtle Crick do in a time like this? Yinz need to stand together, with me, and fight! Raise your Jolly Roger, waive your Terrible Towel,
and find your motivation to repel the intruders and reclaim da burg! Heed my warning, yinz peoples, and prepare for da worst. They will not stop, they will not hinder their assault on our culture, our borders and our language. I charge you to put down your pop, take up arms and join me to fight! We will show ‘em what we are made of for cryin out loud and take it to ‘em! We will never give up, never surrender. We will win n’at!
language and borders. I’ve stood by as this problem has grown, but can do so no longer.
Last week, at work, we were trying ta reddup da store at da end of the night and I asked a co-worker for a gumband. She starred at me like a deer in da headlights and asked me what I was talkin’ about. I replied, “a gumband. You know, a gumband.” She stood there speechless until I finally was able to explain
what I was trying to tell her. We came to a word she understood in her native tongue, a rubber band. She had the nerve to ask me what a gumband was and why
we would ever say that as if her way was superior or something special. This final offense, after years of oppression by these aliens has brought me to action.
I say to yinz, the people of picksburgh, it’s time. It’s time to stand up to these jaggoffs, these outsiders. If yinz traveled down there up 79 and out ta Cleveland, do you think they’d change their language for you? No, they’d tell ya ta get lost and throw you out with the worsh.
Daily I ravel da streets of dahntahn, and see more and more foreigners defile our fine city with their smooth talk and outlandish words, expecting us to change our ways to suit them. Even da Giant Iggle puts foreign friendly signs down der isles. Next time you’re der, just take a buggy and give it a look. You will see what I mean. Even da point, da strip, Mt Worshington, all flocked by tourist types spewing their vernacular filth.
These people move into town, take our jobs and push their stuffy language on us. Once you make some concessions, its a slippy slope before they run da show. It’s time, yinz people to stand up! It’s time to take a stand and secure our borders! I propose a plan, yinz people of da burgh, a plan to secure our borders and make our language the official and legal language of the land. It’s time to implode the liberty tubes, destroy the west end bridge and build a wall, yes a wall across the tenth street bypass! These outsiders are surrounding us and soon, like being trapped in a jaggerbush, there will be no way out...
It is not time to sit idle and lose our beautiful city; we must stand up and fight! I ask you, what would Myron say about our lofty defense? \ What would Arnold Slick from Turtle Crick do in a time like this? Yinz need to stand together, with me, and fight! Raise your Jolly Roger, waive your Terrible Towel,
and find your motivation to repel the intruders and reclaim da burg! Heed my warning, yinz peoples, and prepare for da worst. They will not stop, they will not hinder their assault on our culture, our borders and our language. I charge you to put down your pop, take up arms and join me to fight! We will show ‘em what we are made of for cryin out loud and take it to ‘em! We will never give up, never surrender. We will win n’at!
About the Author
Hello, my name is Brian Crawford and I'm a sophomore here at Cal U. I am a returning student majoring in Journalism. I founded the Relay For Life on campus when I first went to school here. I currently am the beat writer for the Vulcan Ice Hockey teams in the Cal Times and have a radio show Mondays 10-Midnight on 91.9 WCAL.