July 17, 2011

ARE YOU HUNGRY FOR MORE?

You are traveling along and you feel hunger pains and your stomach growls, what do you do?  Or your mouth is dry and you feel your thirst is unquenchable, what do you do?  The answer is quite simple: you head to the nearest source of  food and water and take care of your needs.  But what about when you feel empty or unhappy or at a loss about how to grapple with everyday life?  What do you do?

 Why do we as Catholics so often not recognize that we have a spiritual hunger or thirst, even when we have the most precious and awesome gift available to us?  Our Lord Jesus has given us His sacramental presence in the Blessed Sacrament.  When we attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we celebrate the Paschal Mystery – the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord. In this memorial of his death and resurrection, when we receive the Body and Blood, we express our faith in this real presence of Christ. 

Imagine being able to have our Lord with us every moment of every day to give us His grace, His strength, His courage, His eternal love.  What more could we want as we meet life’s challenges, big and small?  What more could we ask for?  We are so blessed to have this most valuable gift of all.  This nourishment deepens our desire to be united with Christ and with the Church.  Remember His words in John 6:53, “Truly, I say to you, unless you eat of this flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” 

So take Him with you on your journey.  There is no better companion to have with you.