Catholic Coloring Page

Before entering the Promised Land, the Israelites had to wander in the desert for forty years. God sent them manna, or bread from Heaven, so they could survive in the desert. The Israelites had to gather the manna each day, and only for that day. God wanted them to trust Him. The day before the Sabbath, he sent enough manna for two days so the Israelites did not have to gather manna on the Sabbath.

The manna, or bread from heaven, is a foreshadowing of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is Jesus, from heaven, in the form of bread. So we call the Eucharist "bread from heaven" too. The manna in the desert helped point to Jesus. When we remember the Israelites gathering manna in the desert to feed themselves, we remember that Jesus later sent His body to feed all of His Church.

“And the Lord said to Moses: Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you: let the people go forth, and gather what is sufficient for every day: that I may prove them whether they will walk in my law, or not. And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land: with this meat were they fed, until they reached the borders of the land of Chanaan.”  Exodus 16:4,35