Several months ago in early spring, I received a call from my husband, Paul, who was on an early morning walk. “You might want to get your camera.” I dismissed it. I didn’t have time. I had to drive the kids to school.
I looked outside. It was a very foggy morning. So foggy, you could only see a couple of houses down the street. I wasn't sure what Paul was talking about. Then, I looked closer. I noticed the new green plants and how they were covered in dew. With the sun starting to burn off the fog, it created a beautiful scene. I couldn’t resist. I grabbed my camera.
Often times, I like to photograph the grandeur of landscape scenes – like the sunset over the lake or the hundreds of wildflowers on a hill. That morning, I used my macro lens and focused on the details of the droplets of dew. I can honestly say I have never noticed what beauty lies in ordinary dew which appears so quietly in the morning.
Immediately, I was struck by what I was capturing in the camera. The way the sun lit up the intricate details of each and every drop of water on the plants. How a blade of grass had countless water droplets. I had never noticed anything like it. I was filled with awe and wonder. I was thankful I took the time to look deeper and see the beauty God created on what seemed like a dreary, foggy morning.
As I contemplated my experience more, I saw how the Holy Spirit nourished me as I basked in God’s beauty. As I was praying more about it, I was reminded of the prayer the priest says during the Mass as we prepare to receive the Eucharist:
“Make holy these gifts (the bread and wine), we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.”
I was thinking about how God nourished the Israelites for 40 years by sending manna every morning. God would send dewfall and as it dried, it would turn into flakes of manna for the people to eat. It sustained them for 40 years as they wandered in the desert. Pretty amazing when you think about it.
However, the manna only provided for their nutritional needs. Jesus wanted to do more.
Jesus says: "‘I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.’" (John 6:48-51)
Msgr. William Easton explained it by writing, “It is through the power of the life-giving Spirit that bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. In the desert, God sent the dew first, and then the manna. At Mass, God sends the Holy Spirit, and then the bread and wine become Christ’s Body and Blood. A miracle happens, and Jesus is with us, hidden under the form of bread and wine."
I’ve seen the dewfall many, many times but its beauty and mystery remained hidden from me. It wasn’t until I really looked, when I sought it out, that I delighted in the beauty.
It reminded me of a verse from Acts that I recently read, “He made from one the whole human race…so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for him and find him, though indeed he is not far from any of us.” (Acts 17: 26-27)
It’s funny how God nourished me on that seemingly dreary morning in the quiet of the dewfall. How does the Holy Spirit want to nourish you today? Where does he remain hidden in your life?
*If you want to read more about the words we pray at Mass and the connection between the dewfall of manna and the Eucharist, Msgr. William Easton wrote a brief article that explains it beautifully here.
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