We live as hungry people in a hungry world that is often not satisfying. Everyone is looking for something that will sustain and nourish life, something that will feed and energize, something that will fill and satisfy them. Everyone is looking for bread. Real bread. The problem is not that we are hungry, but the kind of bread we eat and desire is not real bread.
Think about the varieties of ‘bread’ being eaten in our lives and in the world today. We covet property, power, and things. We live with betrayal, blame, lies, half-truths, and scapegoating. We call others narcissist, but we fail to see that it is us, not them. We murder those on death row without batting an eye, but mourn the unborn, but then grumble about providing childcare or education. In Gaza both sides are eating the bread of violence and war. Republicans and Democrats share the bread of negativity, hostility, and name-calling. Chick-fil-A brings both sides to the table eating the bread that objectifies and depersonalizes another human being for who they are and thereby devaluing the life God gave them. Many of us eat the bread of having to be always right and get our way without compromise. We eat the bread of hurt feelings and resentment. Sometimes we eat the bread of loneliness, fear, and isolation. There are times we eat the bread of sorrow or guilt. Other times we eat the bread of power, domination, control. Sometimes we eat the bread of revenge. We eat all kinds of bread. And it is that very bread that we eat that reveals something about the nature of our appetites, and in the end, makes us who we are. Yes, we eat what we are.
At Saint Miriam we have always recognized the divinity in others. We do not always agree, but we love God and proclaim the Risen Lord in deed, song and love. We do not destroy others, even when they hurt us. We welcome back those who harmed us if they are contrite, and we easily reconcile. We feed the hungry with sustenance and we live the idiom that ‘the Eucharist is always about bread, and bread is always about bodies, and bodies are always about God.’
When we believe in Jesus, eating, ingesting, and taking him into our lives, we live differently. How can we not? We see ourselves and one another as persons created in the image and likeness of God, rather than as obstacles or issues to be overcome. “I am the bread of life,” Jesus tells the people. “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” He is offering the people himself. He is the imperishable bread that nourishes and sustains imperishable life. So I wonder, what bread will we eat today?
Monsignor +Jim