The festival of Pentecost reminds us that the Holy Spirit has been poured out. But recall, carefully remember, that throughout the Scriptures, when God’s power comes down in the person of His Spirit, He is always poured out upon something. He comes to rest.
In the visitation of God’s Spirit, we do not find the vaporization of material things, but rather their anointing and consecration. The spiritual man is not one who finds himself becoming a ghost, but rather one who finds himself walking obediently, in step with the Spirit.
This is spiritual food, but not because of some magic going on within the elements. This is spiritual food, but not because a miracle has occurred which has transformed the substance of the bread and wine. This is spiritual food because the Holy Spirit, a Person present here with us today, uses this moment, this bread, this wine, this faith of ours, to knit us together as a perfect man. We are being built up into Christ, bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh. This is a great mystery, Paul says. Who can know it?
But not being able to know it in the sense of giving detailed mechanical explanations does not keep us from knowing it in the biblical sense of that word. We come to know God by faith. We take Him at His word. A materialist could look at the Rock that accompanied Israel in the wilderness and not see Christ there, but only Rock. And when water came from the Rock, he could explain it all as coincidence. When faithful Jews drank from Christ, and ate Christ as He fell from the heavens every morning, they would fail if they tried to give a mathematical explanation, just as we fail when we try.
But you should not be explaining this just now. You have other things to do with your mouth, like tasting, chewing and swallowing. And the Holy Spirit, poured out upon the Church forever, will do His holy work. Trust Him.