May Jesus Christ be praised and may his holy Mother pray for
us.
Elijah was hungry in the desert. He was discouraged, disgusted by the people,
and he even prayed that the Lord God would take his life. Elijah was simply ready to give up, and so he
went to sleep beneath a tree. He was
without hope. He was without consolation, but he was not without the voice of
an angel and he was not without food. Through the ministry of an angel, Elijah
was given food and rest. Through the ministry of an angel, Elijah was given
food and he was given strength for the journey to the mountain of God. Elijah
was hungry and the Lord God fed him. He was hungry and he was given food for
the journey.
Several times each week I have the opportunity and sacred
responsibility to visit the sick and the homebound of our parish. Honestly this is one of my favorite parts of
priestly ministry: bringing the Word of God, the consolation of the Church, the
presence of the apostolic ministry, and the Bread of Life to those who are
hungry to receive. With faith and devotion, in agony and distress, in moments
of doubt and suffering, and sometimes with the peace that passes all
understanding, the sick and the dying that hunger for the Bread of Life are
fed. They are hungry for the Lord
Jesus. They are hungry for the Bread of
eternal life.
I want to have that hunger. I want to be hungry for the Bread
of eternal life. Every day I am privileged to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass and every day I am privileged to receive the Lord Jesus in Holy
Communion. Every week we gather for the
celebration of the Eucharist and we are privileged to receive the Body, Blood,
Soul and Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. But sometimes I do not have that
same hunger. Sometimes I am not as hungry for the Bread of eternal life as the
sick and the dying who do not have the same opportunity to receive him. Sometimes I do not have the same hunger and
sometimes I forget the privilege. But I want to be hungry. I want to be hungry
for Jesus, because he is the Word of Life. He is the gift of the Father. He is
the one who has come down from heaven so that you and I can be drawn up into
heaven. He is the one who feeds us in agony and distress, in doubt and
suffering, in sickness and in health. Jesus is the one who feeds us with the
Bread of Life that prepares us for Eternal life beyond the bounds of death.
And I want to be hungry. We want to be hungry for Jesus. We
want to be hungry for the Bread of Life more than Elijah was hungry for bread
in the desert. We want to be hungry for Jesus. And if we want to be hungry for
Jesus then we need to be careful about other things that will feed us. Our
telephones, our televisions, our social media and national media, our
entertainments and our advertisements will feed us. They will feed us
completely with food that will not nourish if we let them. And we can easily be
fed to the fill such that we are no longer hungry for Jesus.
But we want to be hungry for Jesus. We want to be fed by Him.
So as we celebrate this Eucharist we ask for the wisdom to fast a little or a
little more, from everything else that feeds us so that we will be hungry to
receive the Bread that will bring us to Eternal life. Amen.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes
Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
