27 March 2022 4th Sunday of Lent

While the Israelites were encamped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

From Joshua 5:9-12, NRSV

In today’s first reading, we hear about the beginning of the new life for the people of Israel as they entered the land that had been promised to them. These people were the children and grandchildren of the generation of the Exodus. They had spent their lives as wanderers in the desert. At many times during their wanderings, they had grumbled and complained and felt that God was far from them. However, they were now ready for a fresh start and as they prepared to inhabit their new land, one of their first actions was to celebrate the Passover as Moses had commanded them to. In so doing, they were acknowledging that their lives always had and always would be under God’s guidance and deliverance. We are told that the manna that had sustained them whilst they were in the desert was no longer available. Now God was providing for his people in a different way – a way in which they were no longer simply provided for but required to work and labour to provide crops for their food.

• • Why do you suppose the gift of manna was no longer available to the people?
  • How has your relationship with God changed over the different stages of your life?

As we approach the end days of Lent, you may wish to reflect on the ways in which you are called to deepen your relationship with God.