The miracle of the loaves and fish and Jesus' teaching about Himself as the "living bread" or the "bread of life" in chapter six of St. John's Gospel calls us to look at several aspects of the Eucharist, the center and heart of our Catholic life and identity.
In the miracle itself, we read how Jesus gathered the people, taught them and fed them. This happens at every Mass as Jesus gathers us, teaches us through scripture and feeds us as surely as He gathered, taught, and fed the people on that mountainside.
In today's Gospel, Jesus speaks of that spiritual hunger that the Eucharist satisfies. As the people sought bread that filled their stomachs, Jesus speaks to them of a different kind of bread, the living bread. Malnutrition is rampant in our world. There are two kinds of ways a person can suffer from malnutrition. One is from not having enough food to eat, which is true of what we call the "Third World." The other is from eating the wrong kind of food, which is a problem here in the United States. Either can lead to physical deterioration, emotional problems, depression and death.
All of us also have spiritual hungers that are as real as the hunger of the body. All of us needs companionship, affirmation, respect, loyalty, and purpose. Beyond these emotional needs there are needs of the soul for cleansing, forgiveness, spiritual rebirth, inner healing,and union with God.These hungers can happen in the most wealthy of nations. In fact, material prosperity can sometimes mask spiritual starvation.
When we place more importance on material wealth, and deny our spiritual growth, we start to die from spiritual malnourishment. When people are starving spiritually, they will grab for anything. We have a "spiritual marketplace" filled with all kinds of spiritual "junk food," new age literature filled with broad, unfocussed generalities, books about superstitions, accounts about the preternatural that give the illusion of spiritual nourishment but only make it worse. Jesus "satisfies the hungry heart" at each Mass with His truth and with Himself through the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
If we pay attention to the daily and Sunday scripture readings at mass, we discover a journey, like Israel's journey through the desert. Our journey will lead us to heaven, while we continue to perform our mission on earth.
In all that happens to us in our daily life, we can either let it help us or hinder us on that journey to heaven. We are taught that we are destined for union with God not only in eternity but now through grace. We are taught that a life of prayer and service can deepen that union.
At Mass we are fed with the very body and blood of Jesus Christ. It is at Mass that we make contact with the Jesus of the Gospels, the Jesus of History, the Jesus Who is the center of our Church. During Holy Communion He comes to us personally with all the graces and strength we need, in our own personal way, for our individual journey of life.
During Holy Communion bring to Jesus your particular hunger. Then Jesus will give you strength for the journey you have yet to make.
Your post reminded me of two things: (1) Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta often spoke of the worst form of poverty as the poverty of being unloved. YES, to be without God & to be without love is worse than physical starvation, as horrible as physical starvation and malnutrition may be. (2). The account in Luke of JESUS meeting the two disciples (Cleophas & perhaps Mrs. Cleophas) on the road to Emmaus where He first explained the Scriptures to them and then broke bread & they recognized Him in the "breaking of the bread", which is the term used in the early Church for the Eucharist. Although the Eucharist was instituted & first given by CHRIST at the Last Supper, which may have been at the end of a Passover Seder, the Road to Emmaus is the model for Mass & could be considered the first Sacred Liturgy.
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