Never Be Hungry Again

Today is the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi.  I want to recognize that many of the thoughts and images in this post come from Father Tom Doyle, the Director of Andre House in Phoenix, Arizona, a place where hospitality is extended to the homeless through feeding and meeting immediate needs.  Father Tom knows a little about feeding the hungry.

Have you ever wandered around your kitchen, opening cabinets, opening the refrigerator, looking for something but you don't know what?  Or have you ever sat in front of your TV, remote in hand, flipping through the channels but not knowing what you want to see?  Maybe you waste time popping around the internet, through your social media accounts, kitty videos and news websites without a specific purpose.  You're looking for something, but you don't know what.

Our lives are filled with episodes of hunger:  hunger for food, material things, money and love.  To quote Mick Jagger, you can't always get what you want, but if you try some time, you find you get what you need.  But do you really want to settle?

When the crowds followed Jesus and his disciples into the desert, they weren't sure what they wanted.  They were curious, but certainly they were looking for hope and truth.  The apostles weren't sure either.  When they realized they had 5,000+ people without food, Jesus sent them scrounging for what little food they could find - 5 loaves and 2 fishes.  At that point people weren't thinking so much about what they wanted, but what they needed.

Jesus delivered both.  He multiplied the loaves and fishes.  He fed over 5,000 men, women and children.  Most importantly, he gave them hope and truth.  He gave it to them in a tangible way.  It wasn't just talk or philosophy - it was reality.

But wait - there's more!  After feeding more than 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, there were 12 baskets left over.  You can't run out of God's mercy or generosity.  It's boundless.  So you will get what you want and what you need.

Don't settle - don't go hungry.  Find the bread of life in Jesus.

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Not Getting Anything Out of It?

Recently I heard an interview with Cardinal Timothy Dolan and he was asked about the crowds who come to mass on Christmas but disappear by Epiphany.  He said that although it was disappointing not to see all those people every week, it was good that they came once a year so they could be open to the graces of the mass.  When asked why they didn't attend regularly, Cardinal Dolan said that many people complain they "don't get anything out of it."

I know for so many years as a teenager I felt exactly the same.  Truthfully, sometimes I still walk out of Sunday mass feeling I didn't get anything out of it.  I have to remind myself that I'm not there to be entertained, but to give God the worship and praise He deserves. I get "entertained" everyday looking at the beauty of God's creation. Shouldn't that be enough for me?  Why do I think I should be entertained at mass?

I remember the years when I wasn't quite so faithful about attending mass every Sunday.  Before my husband converted we attended a congregational church where he worked as an organist.  The people there were wonderful, the pastor was a great friend and their services were very nice.  No matter how nice, friendly and wonderful the church was, I was missing something.  It took me a while to recognize it, but it was the Eucharist.  No matter how reverent they were, the bread and grape juice the congregational church passed around every month or so could not replace Jesus in the Eucharist.  I needed the grace I received from the True Presence (body, blood, soul and divinity) of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.  I longed for Him even if I didn't "feel" it every Sunday.

So on Sunday when I might not "feel" it as I approach the altar to receive Communion, I will tell myself I'm getting the most precious "something" out of mass.  I'm getting an encounter with Jesus Christ in the most intimate way possible.

What more could I want?

CC