Homily for the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time, August 8, 2021. The Gospel of St. John 6:41-51. Theme: Soul Food
As I was reflecting on today’s gospel, in which Jesus says he will satisfy our deepest hunger, I thought of what St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said when asked to compare her charitable works in the USA to those in India. She said: “Hunger in America is so much deeper and so much worse than in India because it is a hunger of the soul, a hunger for God and for love. There is so much wealth in the USA but also so much more spiritual poverty, so much more spiritual hunger.”
Was Mother Teresa spot-on in saying that we who are satisfied materially are in reality starving and dying spiritually? I think so and I also think facts bear it out in what we see happening all across our nation. Well-fed but spiritually-hungry America, with all we have at our disposal to satisfy our physical needs, has among the highest rates of addiction and emotional disorders in the world. Is there a connection?
Bill Wilson, one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935 said that AA had success where other programs failed because AA was the first to see that addiction is a spiritual disease that requires a spiritual remedy. Addiction happens because for some reason, real or perceived, people come to believe they are not loved, not valuable, not worthwhile. The pain of this spiritual hunger is too great and so they reach out for whatever will promise to satisfy, to fill that space within us that God and love are meant to occupy. I think that this is very much like when we are really physically hungry and we’ll grab whatever food is quickly at hand.
Fast food and junk food provide instant gratification but not much real nutrition at all. They satisfy the hunger for a time, but do nothing to truly nourish us, to promote our growth and health for the long-term. They actually end up making us worse off in the long run. And the same is true about the things we do and chase after in life that are futile attempts to satisfy our spiritual hunger. When we are starving spiritually we’ll grab for anything that promises to give meaning and love to our lives; we will reach out for anything that seems to be able to satisfy the hunger.
Fortunately for those who have the ears to hear and hearts open to receive the message, today’s Gospel is full of real hope, it offers genuine dependable promises. It reminds us that God our Father draws us to Jesus, to the Bread of Life who truly satisfies our deepest spiritual hunger. Through our mindful and attentive worship at Mass, Jesus offers us spiritual nourishment in the Word He speaks to us. He provides spiritual nourishment in the Eucharistic Bread He gives to us. It is by encountering and becoming one with the Risen Lord Jesus in the Mass that we can truly satisfy our deepest spiritual hunger.
When it comes to feeding our bodies, we take great care to learn what is good for us, as well we should: we shop for food with mindful awareness of proper nutrition; we prepare it thoughtfully and eat it gratefully. And it seems to me that the same should be true about our approach to spiritual nourishment. We should do all we can to prepare ourselves interiorly, spiritually, to partake of the Living Heavenly Bread, which is the very Body and Blood of Christ. And then we should approach the altar thoughtfully and hold out our hands gratefully to receive the Lord with faith and devotion.
The gift of receiving the Eucharist should bring hope to weary hearts, uplift drooping spirits and dispel any gloom or darkness that threatens us, especially as we recall and repeat within ourselves the closing words of Jesus in today’s Gospel: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."
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