Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time B
A
rich man came across a poor, hungry beggar.
The
rich man asked, “Do you smoke?
I could
give you some cigarettes.”
But
the beggar replied, “No, I don't smoke.
I’m
just want food.”
Then
the rich man asked, “Well, do you drink?
I could give you.”
But
the beggar responded, “No, I don't drink.
I’m
just looking for something to eat.”
Finally
the rich man asked, “Do you gamble?
I
could give you some good tips
on the races this weekend.”
The
beggar again replied, “No.
I’m
just hungry and need some food.”
So
the rich man said,
“In
that case, I’d better take you to my home.”
He
loaded the beggar into his fancy car,
drove
him to his swanky house,
and
there introduced him to his wife.
She
immediately asked,
“What
are you planning to do with this man?
Are
you going to invite him to live with us,
to
eat our food and wear our clothes?”
“Heavens,
no!” the rich man replied.
“I
just wanted to show you what becomes of a man
who
doesn’t smoke, drink, or gamble.”
Rich
or poor,
on
the seashore or in the desert,
we
all get hungry.
We
have physical appetites for food and drink, for sure.
But
we also have longings and desires
for
affection and intimacy, for security and belonging,
to understand
and to possess.
We all
know what happens
when
you don’t respond to bodily hungers
with
a regular, balanced diet:
you
settle for the junk food most quickly and easily available.
Your
health suffers for it…
…and—no
matter how much of it you eat—
you
still can’t seem to shake the hunger.
So,
too, with the appetites of mind and soul.
How
often we settle for junk!
And
we all know, my friends,
that
smoking, drinking, and gambling
are
just the tip of the iceberg.
St.
John Vianney—whose feast was celebrated yesterday—
once
put it this way:
Without the Holy Eucharist
there would be no happiness
in this world;
life would be
insupportable.
When we receive Holy
Communion,
we receive our joy and our
happiness.
The good God,
wishing to give himself to
us in the sacrament of his love,
gave us a vast and great
desire,
which he alone can satisfy.
Where
do you go when you’re hungry—really
hungry?
Is
there junk food you’ve settled for?
Do you
truly recognize the one and only place
where
your deepest appetites can be fed?
Are
you ready and willing—if necessary—to change your diet?
As
Jesus instructed the crowds
miraculously
filled by five loaves and two fish,
“Do
not work for food that perishes,
but
for the food that endures to eternal life.”
May
our partaking in the true Bread from heaven
only
serve to deepen our hunger
for
him alone who can satisfy it.
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