Aug. 12, 2018: 19th Sunday in Ordinary B

8-12-18 19th Sunday B

Are you eating the right food? The doctor usually asks that question when we go for a checkup. What happens when we don’t eat right? I encountered a man a few weeks ago at our church office seeking a little assistance. He had been hitchhiking across the country for some time. While speaking with him, I noticed that his teeth were eroded eroded and he appeared to be in poor health. During the conversation, he revealed that he loved to drink Dr. Pepper. When I asked how much he consumed everyday, he responded “two 20 oz. for breakfast to wake me up, two 20 oz. for lunch, and two 20 oz. at dinner to help me sleep.” He drinks 120 oz. or a bottle and half of two liter size Dr. Pepper every day. We know intellectually what’s good for us to eat and what to avoid, but that hasn’t kept us from eating junk food, right? Someone told me that when she was preparing for an exam at school, she would binge-eat Doritos chips and a large bag of M&M chocolates. I think a lot of students do something similar; however, mamas and grandmas would never allow them to eat that much junk food -- they love us enough to feed us food that is good for us.

Speaking of nourishing….how are we nourishing our soul? Are we eating the right kind and enough of spiritual nourishment? Just as our body needs the right food groups and water to nourish and sustain a healthy body, we also also need the right nourishment to sustain our soul. But where can we find the right kind of spiritual sustenance for our soul?

Prophet Elijah in our First Reading demonstrated that God himself will provide the necessary nourishment. Elijah was on the run from assassins sent by Queen Jezebel to kill him. He fled into the desert, away from his executioners. He was mortally afraid, tired, and famished from fleeing and asked God to take his life. Instead, God loved and cared for Elijah by sending angels to bring food and drink to sustain him. This heavenly food sustained Elijah to be able to trek across the desert for forty days and forty nights. Imagine if we could have access to such food brought to us from heaven by angels; would we also be sustained through difficult experiences throughout our earthly life--suffering, illness, anxiety, or a loss of a loved one? Out of His great care and love for us God sends us His Son as our nourishment for our journey through earthly life.

Jesus proclaimed, “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.” Those who heard his words, however, doubted him; how could a mere human being claim that he came down from heaven? Even though they have seen Jesus miraculously multiply bread and fish to feed five thousand persons, they would not believe that Jesus was divine. Similar doubt persists in our modern generation, doubting whether Jesus is real, whether he is even God, and whether this bread he gives is truly himself. Therefore, many do not get true spiritual nourishment and thus experience spiritual dryness. Feeling that gnawing spiritual hunger within, some search out for spiritual gurus and Eastern spiritual exercises to fill the void within. In my younger days, I pursued New Age philosophy and practices hoping that I would experience spiritual enlightenment and fullness. I received temporary relief, only to seek out something new and more esoteric. It was like eating junk food; it tasted good at the beginning, but left me even more empty and hungry.

Faith in God is a precious gift, and we must never take it for granted. Our Lord said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him...Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me...whoever believes has eternal life.” We the disciples of Jesus have been given nourishment that truly fills and satisfies us--Sacred Scriptures, teachings of the Church, encounter with Heavenly Father through prayer, and intimate communion with Jesus through the Eucharist. Are we grateful for this banquet of true nourishment? St. Ignatius of Antioch put well how our desires and attitude should be, “I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible”

When we reflect on our life, are we getting the right nourishment? Are we faithful to our prayer life, our charity in action for others, Sacrament of Reconciliation, and Eucharist? Just as God provided for Prophet Elijah’s long and arduous journey into desert, God gives us bread from heaven, His Son in the Eucharist, so that we might have eternal life.