Saturday, February 16, 2019

Why am I still hungry?

I love food, especially good food. Especially good Italian or Mexican food. These days, almost everyone shares lovely photos of food with their friends. However, no matter how good or interesting the food is, we are never satisfied.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying the search for good food, but it highlights our hearts' desire for something more fulfilling, something that cannot be satisfied by food alone.

As Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading: "My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for 3 days and have nothing to eat" (Mark 8:2). His heart is also moved with pity for us, as we have been with Him for so long, yet we are still so hungry -- searching the world for ways to satisfy our hunger, be it through success, power, money, relationships, lustful desires, food, entertainment, travels, social media, etc.

Just like Adam and Eve in today’s Old Testament reading (Genesis 3:19-24), we have been tempted by the devil with the false promise that we will be satisfied when we eat the fruits of this world; yet every time we think we have satisfied a certain craving or desire, we find our hearts still yearning for more. More temptations will continue to lure us further -- many of which distract us from spending time with God, bringing us further and further away from Him, and sometimes even hiding from Him.

The truth is, God is the One for whom we are seeking and yearning. It is only in God that we are truly satisfied. Only in God do we find the truth and happiness we never stop searching for, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to Himself.

Jesus gently reminds us in Matthew 4:4 that the bread we keep seeking for in the world can never satisfy our hunger. Instead, He offers us Himself, the Bread of Life who came down from Heaven. This is Whom we ultimately yearn for and Whom we can consume and be satisfied with at every Catholic Mass. He is also the Word of God satisfying our hunger for truth and happiness when we listen to Him speak to us and comfort us. Jesus calls to us: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

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"I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.

I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor:
the first — by deed, the second — by word, the third — by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy.

Many souls ... are often worried because they do not have the material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul.

If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy".