FOOD THAT LASTS FOREVER!

This article is inspired by John 6. It continues the series on prayer scheduled for 2024. The greatest disease in the West today is not tuberculosis or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for.” – Mother Teresa.

In the gospel of John, chapter 6 is devoted to the theme that Jesus is the bread of life. The people have witnessed the miracles of healing and large crowds are setting out because they have been impressed by these miracles. The scene now is the hillside of Lake Galilee. Jesus, realising it must have been some time since the crowd had eaten, becomes concerned and so we have the miracle whereby 5000 are fed.

After this, the disciples cross over to the other side of the lake. They ask Jesus when did he arrive there and Jesus gently chides them: “… you are not looking for me because you had seen the signs, but because you had all the food you wanted to eat”.  Jesus then explains over and over that there is another type of food and they will find it through him. He claims to be “living bread come down from heaven”. The chapter concludes with the crowd walking away unable to accept such a teaching, and when Jesus asks the disciple if they will also go away, Peter, replies “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life!” 

There is an important lesson in all this. Like the crowd looking for Jesus because he literally fed them, humans often turn to God because their life is a mess. When all is well, the relationship is forgotten about, but a relationship with God offers so much more than God attending to our immediate needs.  If only we would spend time pondering the mystery of God in our lives, in nature and in others, we would certainly be on the road to discovering something special.

I like to think that the reason Jesus made the people sit down when the boy offered his five loaves and two fish, was so that they would observe the miracle. It was pointing to the life of God residing in Jesus, but they missed the point and when Jesus said they needed to eat his flesh and drink his blood they missed the point completely.  Peter however saw much more in the miracle. He was coming to know Jesus intimately.

To understand this intimacy takes time. Pondering the miracles of God in our lives takes us to the deepest part of ourselves: as the psalmist says: Be still and know that I am God (Ps 46:10).   This constant turning to Christ in friendship lets us know that we are loved, wanted and cared for. It drives us to go out and feed others with much more than fixing their immediate needs, even though this may be important.

The sad part in the loaves and fishes story, is that the crowd missed the point. They saw Jesus as the solver of problems, nothing more. That is why they walked away.

Now to the important question: what use is all this to Vincentians? We can give food to people in many forms: bed, clothing, accommodation, but, as Mother Teresa reveals there is a much greater poverty in the West than just shortage of food. It is the lack of a realistic and life-giving spirituality. It is a matter of letting people know they are wanted, loved and cared for. We only need to observe society for a few minutes to realise the catastrophic problems we have, which we wouldn’t have if people understood they are loved by God.

As the strength of a healthy spirituality weakens in society, what increases is the lack of a moral compass expressing itself in drug and alcohol addiction, greed, lust and an excessive accumulation of wealth leading to a selfish way of life. Marriages break down, family life weakens and our children start feeling insecure. Nobody cares!

We all need God. Where we look for God is the issue. Who, other than Christ, do you know can fill that void within each us? If it isn’t filled by the true God, we will try to fill it with what cannot possibly satisfy. Many, if not most, whom we serve as Vincentians have a greater need than just material help. It is the love within our serving and in our conversations that will give the poor food that truly nourishes. It is the wisdom we will reveal when we eat his flesh and drink his blood that will help us fill the empty void in so many.

When we truly believe that we are wanted, loved and cared for, will be able to pass this knowledge onto others. It is a knowledge that comes about through eating and drinking the body and blood of Jesus. We know it as prayer!

Discussion:

1)    Share your experience of spiritual poverty observed in your geographical area.

2)     Do you consider that the Society places enough emphasis on healing the spiritual gap in our communities?

Nothing is more practical than finding God.

That is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way.

What you are in love with,

What seizes your imagination

Will affect everything.

It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning.

What you will do with your evening,

How you will spend your week-ends.

What you read.

And what amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.

(Pedro Arrupe S.J)