Living is growing.
Living is moving, moving freely by choice and action, from being limited
– materially, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually – into self-
transcendence, into a horizon that gets bigger with each new step further into
life. It comes down to moving from
desires to satisfaction, and the process is what is thrilling. Coming to a well of cool water as a long walk
is finally ending. Going to a relative’s
house for Thanksgiving, getting there, reveling in the warm, welcoming embraces,
and then moving forward to delicious foods, memories, laughs and comfort. Getting through what seemed our longest years
and finally becoming a teenager. Raising
a family. Becoming a good, magnanimous,
loving person. And living out the
pursuit of all these good things in the company and in league with others --
with family, friends, and community.
These all take time: some of it
hard, much of it joyous, all of it necessary.
God portions our lives out into moments, days, weeks, and
years. Along with that, God also gives
us the means, the way, and the truth to figure out, decide and act upon on a
whole hierarchy of desires which He has placed within us. They make up the fuel
moving us to pursue what is lacking -- to search for it, go after it, and find
it. Food. Love.
Intimacy. New experiences,
knowledge, and understanding. Safety and
security. Companionship and community.
Our bodies and souls, full of desires for these things,
testify that we long for fullness of life.
Along the way, we have moments when we taste it, not to the full, but
the taste is real and it satisfies—for the moment. But we always seem to hunger for more.
Sometimes we seek and go after momentary satisfactions
willy-nilly, in no particular order – like a puppy going from his master, to
his food, to scampering about, then back again to the others. Sometimes we go after them according to what
we think is more fulfilling, and we plan accordingly. Sometimes we pursue them according to what is
more fulfilling, and for these reasons we discern and pray – sometimes in
solitude, sometimes with others – and then decide and try to live
accordingly.
Underneath all our desires, mingling with them and
undergirding them, is the desire for God.
Life is sorting out and ordering all our other desires to the one that
is deepest and most passionate, the one that gives ultimate meaning and
relevance to all the rest. We sometimes
know it and are sometimes unaware of it, but what we want ultimately is a
loving relationship with God—and through that, a loving relationship with
everything and everyone else.
God is the only one who can slake our deepest thirst, feed our
deepest hunger, satisfy our desires to the full. We want God’s company, God’s protection,
God’s love. We want intimacy with the One
who gives us our very life, with all its desires.
Often we grab for substitutes.
Fast food. Faster living, faster
cars. More convenience, more comfort,
unrestricted sexual fulfillment (without responsibility), and the so-called
“right” of complete freedom to do whatever I want whenever I want to.
Jesus offers us the ultimate food and drink: giving us bread that is His body and drink
that is His blood, poured out for us. We need to calm down, become more simple,
and receive quietly this Body and Blood of Christ into our own fleshly selves. Doing so puts us squarely in God’s company,
secures us under God’s protection, and engages us in God’s intimate love. It unites us with the One who is giving us
our life, with all its desires.
We can do this at Mass, thanks be to God. The Eucharistic Prayer
makes ready the food we receive at Communion. Here we ponder, choose, and act
to fulfill our most real hunger and thirst. We eat the bread which Christ
identifies as “true food,” and we drink the blood which is “true drink.” In doing this, we enter into the kind of
communion Our Lord speaks of in the Gospel:
“Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood remains in me and I in
him.” (John 6:52-59)
This communion will nourish the moment-by-moment course of our
lives, if we let it. It will bring order
to our desires. It will lay out the way
for us, serve up the truth of things, and move us to the very pulse of
life. It will satisfy our desire to
unite our hearts and minds to one another and to God.
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