Born in Portugal 12 years before Columbus crossed the Atlantic, Ferdinand Magellan became well educated in astronomy and nautical sciences. As a young man he participated in expeditions to India and Morocco.
Wanting to make a name for himself as a an explorer, Magellan offered his services to Charles I of Spain to find a way to sail westward and arrive in the “far east” and the wealthy prospects of the Spice Islands. Columbus had sailed westward to the great land mass of the “new world.” The question was, could one sail through or around this land mass to get to what is today Indonesia?
In September 1519, Magellan led a fleet of five ships carrying 270 men and sailed west. Reaching coast of South America, he said southward looking for a sea passage that would enable them to go westward. On October 21, just south of what is today Argentina, he saw a waterway that looked promising. (It would one day be called the Strait of Magellan.) After five weeks of storms and winding, tortuous sailing, he emerged onto a great expanse of water which seemed so calm that he named it the "peaceful sea” (Pacific Ocean).
Months later, not yet at the Spice Islands, he stopped at the Philippines. There, on this date in 1521, he was killed in a fight with the natives.
It was over a year later when the one remaining ship of this expedition, with only 18 survivors aboard, finally reached home port in Portugal – providing the first practical proof that the world was round
The “Passover” from Egypt to the Promised Land was the event for the Jewish people. They were led by the great prophet, Moses. In the desert, they received the unfailing gift of the manna, which kept them alive – they called it the "bread of life.” They received the Torah (the “Law” – the first five books of the Bible), which they also referred to as the “bread of life.” Moses, the manna, the Torah – these were their foundations.
Jesus, with full respect for these traditions, is taking the people to a new level. He is giving them the bread of life that truly “comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” – his Word and his own Body and Blood.
There is nothing temporary about this food: “Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
Not only does it last forever, but here and now it fulfills my deepest needs.
Really? Are those just words? Or are those my core beliefs?
There is a lot riding on this.