THE END OF HUNGER

                                        Reflection for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
                                                Ex 16:2-4, 12-15; Eph 17,20-24; Jn 6:24-35)

The Hunger
“The whole congregation of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and Aeron in the wilderness.” Hunger is synonymous with desire, which can make someone restive. The discomforting nature of hunger is worse when it has no hope of being satisfied. In their hunger the Israelites complained against Moses and Aeron. The wilderness offered them no hope of satisfaction so they redirected their desire backwards  towards Egypt. “Would that we had died by the hand the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full...” In their desperation they preferred the bread of slavery to the hunger of freedom. Their desire was focused solely eating to satisfaction regardless of its consequences.

In the Gospel,  the multitude that Jesus fed ran after Him to enjoy more free bread and fish. Their desire was shifted from the person of Jesus who is the source to mere bread that satisfied their immediate hunger. This is selfishness. So Jesus said to them, “Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.” Jesus proposes an end to an endless regress in our quest.

“Lord, give us this Bread Always”
God cares for His people. He rained bread for the Israelites, as Jesus multiplied bread and fish for the multitude. Last week we recognised that this miracle points to Jesus Himself, who is the Bread of Life. This is where our hunger should be directed.  It's only when we are fed by God are we satisfied and free. The Israelites desired selfishly, without faith, and longed for the bread of slavery.

That is why St Paul warns us not live like unbelievers, chasing futility—a life marked with deceitful lusts that cannot be satisfied.  Our minds must be constantly renewed by focusing them on God in true righteousness and holiness. There is a freshness of life that comes when we enter into the silence of our hearts and direct our innermost thoughts and sentiments to God. From this depth, God bestows satisfaction and freedom.

This sweet and serene freshness,  which Jesus gives from the silence of our hearts, shines out to bestow calmness on our every other temporal hunger. But it increases our hunger for Jesus, whom we have come to recognise as our only source of satisfaction. Then we frequently seek for Jesus, like the multitude, but for His own sake, and to say to Him, “Give us this Bread always.”

The End of Hunger
Every hunger has an end in view. Unfortunately,  if in our hunger for well-being, our hearts are turned from God, we enter into an infinite regress. Then we are enslaved. Jesus offers Himself as the end of our hunger, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” This implies that only our hunger for Jesus can satisfy, and can be fully satisfied. In other words, the hunger for Jesus brings us satisfaction in our every other temporal hunger such that these others are mere signs. That means our hunger for health, wealth, status, family, etc are pointers to our desire for Jesus since acquiring them does not fully satisfy. But when we encounter Jesus all these others begin to satisfy, no matter how little we might have them.

Therefore, it is only our desire for God that can be fully satisfied in Heaven. However,  even now, our hunger for God is satisfied because it is the only hunger that is its own satisfaction; it is the only  desire that is quenched merely by desiring...Deep calling on deep.

Thus, the end of hunger comes as an exchange—that point of encounter where our thirst jams Jesus' thirst for us.

Fr Jude Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Holy Ghost Father's Chapel,
Katampe Abuja.
August 5th, 2018.