When Jesus was tempted by Satan to turn stones into bread, Jesus quoted the Scripture passage, “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
We need nourishment, not just physically but also spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically. 45 years ago, in August of 1976, Philadelphia was host to the 41st International Eucharistic Congress. The theme was The Eucharist and the Hungers of the Human Family. Each day of the Congress addressed a specific hunger: God, bread (food), freedom and justice, spirit (religious vocations), truth, understanding, peace and Jesus, the Bread of Life. The hungers we experience today are the same as those experienced four decades ago, two millennia ago, and even since the time of Adam and Eve.
While we still live in the world, we will continue to experience the hungers that afflict the human family. Men and women still hunger not only for food, but for freedom, peace and justice, and other basic human needs and rights. The Gospel reading for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time is a reminder that in Jesus, the Bread of Life, we have everything we need to satisfy our deepest hungers.
Blessings!
Sister Marcella Louise Wallowicz CSFN
