If you tune into the BBC News to avoid the politics roiling the news in the US, one of the stories you probably will hear will be about food shortages. Amazingly, it is estimated that worldwide, more than 800 million people go to bed hungry every night.
But it doesn’t stop with food insecurity; in fact, it gets worse. It is estimated that almost 2.4 billion people – almost three times the number who go hungry – lack safe drinking water.
This lack of food and water has dire consequences for infants and adults alike, from higher mortality rates and stunted development in babies, to loss of muscle mass and decreased productivity in adults.
What we all take for granted – grocery stores aisles lined with food or a glass of cool, clean water from the tap – is only a dream for many.
Are we as blasé about the spiritual banquet Jesus offers as some are about ready access to food and water? Do we look at the bread of life that Christ offers us as something we can obtain just as easily as turning on the tap or stopping at the store on the way home from work? Without the spiritual nourishment derived from coming to Jesus in prayer, will we be like those who lack food and clean water, and face dire consequences?
Dire consequences indeed, should be our response. We need to repeat to ourselves often, or at least daily, what Jesus said in today’s Gospel: I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.
As we go about our all too busy and all too messy lives, let us take time to consider that the bread of life we might take for granted is truly a gift, and one for which we should forever be thankful, a gift we can use to its fullest potential by coming to Jesus whenever we are in need. Just as those who are hungry and thirsty are searching for relief, we can reach out to God and be thankful for his watchful eye and attentive ear.
By strengthening our belief in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and enlisting their help through our prayers and petition, we, too, will never be hungry and never thirst … for with Jesus, we have the bread of life.
Steve Scholer
I came to Creighton to attend law school in 1976 and following 5 years of private practice I started what I thought would be a 4 year job to help Fr. James Hoff, S.J. raise funds for the Campaign for Creighton. Little did I know that the many wonderful people I would soon meet, both here on campus and across the entire country, over the next few years would lead me to stay and continue to support the mission of this University. My wife is a Creighton graduate and our son, Frank, is a Xavier undergraduate and Creighton law graduate. Our daughter, Paige, has both her undergraduate and master’s degree from Creighton.
I do not participate in social media websites so posting my personal interpretation about what the readings mean to me is a novel experience for me. However, being required to put pen to paper forced me to become more reflective about what God is really trying to say to me and this has helped me in my daily prayer life - to slow down and let the Word of God dwell within me instead of racing through the daily devotions.
