A Reflection for Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
You can find the readings for today here.
“One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
I’m lucky enough to have never been at a point in my life where I have gone hungry for an extended period of time. Food is such an everyday part of so many people’s daily routine that is often consumed without a second thought; I’m guilty of this myself.
But it’s important to remind ourselves that food is not something that is guaranteed to everyone.
Just during the week of this reflection being written, a study by the United Nations showed that globally, one in four children under the age of five are experiencing “severe food poverty.”
For me, today’s Responsorial Psalm comes with a grain of salt. Yes, it is true that a full, well-lived life would be incomplete without contemplations about God, our place in the world and other bigger picture ideas. But there must be no doubt that it is difficult to think about these questions on an empty stomach.
Even the most faithful characters in the Bible have gone through some sort of reckoning with their faith in the face of hunger, perhaps most famously the Israelites in the desert, who were God’s chosen people. If even they had their doubts about God’s existence because of their severe hunger, why would someone who is starving be able to fully commit themselves to God today?
Thankfully, there is room for a clear Catholic intersection between physical and spiritual nourishment.
The first Corporal Work of Mercy, modeled after the ministry of Christ, is to feed the hungry. Not by coincidence, the Works were drafted with the recognition that if someone is well-fed, they can begin to flesh out their spiritual needs after their physical ones are taken care of.
But feeding the hungry cannot be done without holistic care for the people one is feeding. We may volunteer at a food pantry because we want to feel good about ourselves, but this is not the point–it is to show as much compassion to the less fortunate as we can.
I often think back to one of my favorite novels, Oliver Twist, in which the man in the white waistcoat rages at Oliver for politely asking for more, starving and left with no choice. We must understand that when we feed the hungry, it can never be done so begrudgingly or because it is our “job”—the point is to treat their souls with care while ensuring that they are being given enough to eat.
So yes, while many of us are hungry for spiritual nourishment, this is because we can afford to do so with our food security; let’s allow the Word of God to nourish us and simultaneously work to end the hunger in others so that they may too be able to afford to contemplate God’s wonders.
