In our first reading today, the story of how the Israelite people were fed by the “manna from heaven” is recounted. Many will focus on the miracle of God providing real food for his people. But there is another lesson 
in this story that deals with one of the “seven deadly sins” … the sin of gluttony.
The story from the Book of Numbers explains that each morning the manna from God would appear on the ground.
“Manna was like coriander seed and had the color of resin.
When they had gone about and gathered it up,
the people would grind it between millstones or pound it in a mortar,
then cook it in a pot and make it into loaves,
which tasted like cakes made with oil.
At night, when the dew fell upon the camp, the manna also fell.”
Further research tells us that the manna, which had to be gathered early in the morning before the sun’s heat could melt it away, was freely available to all … but there were limits.
The amount to be gathered was limited to a “gomor” (or 6-7 pints) per person, which was to be made into loaves and eaten that day. If you tried to preserve it overnight, it “putrefied and bred worms.”
In other words, if you collected too much (out of a sense of gluttony), your manna would spoil.
In today’s gluttonous culture, I would suspect that were it not for modern techniques of preservation (including the icebox), there would be a lot of bread spoiling. And perhaps even with that, too much food – purchased out of gluttony or a fear that it might be needed – goes bad and has to be tossed.
But there is also another lesson at play here as well. Why would the Israelites even consider gathering more than they needed? Perhaps because they did not have faith that the manna would fall again? Are we not taught to have faith in God?
Even today, there are rules about the Eucharist that could appear to align with the teaching of manna. As Catholics, we are supposed to go to Sunday Mass each week, but only one Mass. We are prohibited from going to multiple Masses and consuming Holy Communion multiple times.
Some might think that if you go to Communion twice, you receive twice the power of the Body and Blood of Christ. But by doing so, what one really is doing is questioning the power of the Eucharist, the graces of which we receive in full, whether it’s one tiny piece or a substantial portion.
It’s like going to Confession twice for the same sin. You’re not getting “more forgiveness” because once God has forgiven you, you need to accept it and move on. No, when you do this, you’re actually questioning the power of the first Confession.
Or, put another way, you’re faith is weak.
The Israelites were weak in their faith, and thus they were tempted to collect more manna than they were permitted, only to have it spoil before sunrise the next day.
Moses, himself, was weak in his faith at times. He tapped the rock for water, but did it twice, a mistake that kept him out of the Promised Land.
We are weak when we try to “double up” on the Sacraments, exposing us as carrying on a long tradition of human weakness and lack of faith in a God who will always provide what we need.
