Reflections on Friday, the 13th week of peacetime
Today’s reading can be found here.
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
I have been lucky enough to never suffer from hunger for long periods in my life. Food is a part of the daily routine for many people, consumed often without much thought, myself included.
However, it is important to be aware that food is not guaranteed for everyone.
As I write this, a United Nations study found that one in four children under the age of five worldwide experiences “severe food poverty.”
For me, today’s responsorial psalm is a questionable one. Sure, a full and fulfilling life is incomplete without contemplating God, our place in the world, and other big concepts. But it’s certainly hard to think about these questions on an empty stomach.
Even some of the most faithful people in the Bible have had their faith challenged when they faced hunger, most famously the Israelites in the desert, God’s chosen people. If even they were so hungry that they questioned God’s existence, how can a hungry person today surrender themselves completely to God?
Thankfully, in Catholicism, there is a clear intersection between physical and spiritual nourishment.
The first physical act of charity is modeled after the service of Christ: feeding the hungry. Not coincidentally, this act was conceived with the recognition that if a person is well fed, they can begin to meet their spiritual needs after their physical needs have been met.
But feeding the hungry cannot be accomplished without a holistic consideration for the people we feed. We may volunteer at a food pantry because we want to feel good about ourselves, but that’s not the point. It’s about showing as much compassion as we can to those less fortunate.
I am often reminded of one of my favorite novels. Oliver Twist, The man in the white vest becomes angry that Oliver is starving and has no choice because Oliver politely asks for more food. We must understand that when we feed the hungry, we should never do so grudgingly or because it is our “job.” What is important is to care for their souls while still feeding them well.
So while many of us are certainly hungry for spiritual nourishment, which food security makes possible, let us seek to be nourished by God’s Word while also ending the hunger of others so that they too can have time to contemplate the goodness of God.
