Fr. Leo's Spiritual Reflections

By Fr. Leo Schneider (8/9/2009)

Dear People of Holy Name,

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” (Jn 6:51)

How hungry for the Bread of Life are we? I ask this question because I think there is a direct correlation between how much ‘bread’ we have and our hunger for God. Statistics show that most of our vocations to the priesthood come from first and second generation families that have migrated to the United States. Could it be that after people have assimilated into our American culture and move into the middle class there is less spirituality in the home?

I don’t believe our hunger for God diminishes with financial success, but I do think being comfortable in material things can numb our spiritual longing. The parable of the seed describes faith that is strangled by worldly anxieties. Jesus also says you cannot serve both God and money. We can have only one master in our lives and we choose who that master will be. It is not that we have to make a choice between money and God, but following Christ will affect our relationship with money and what we do with it. Jesus took all that he had and gave it to us, even his life. If we follow Christ, will we do the same?

On the other end of the spectrum are those who seriously struggle to get their next meal. It is very hard for these people to develop a relationship with the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, when they are simply struggling to stay alive. These ‘people’ are closer to our door than we realize. Not all of them are somewhere in Africa. They too have a hunger for God, but the pain in their stomachs can keep them from praying.

When those who have follow Christ, they give to those who are truly in need and in that sharing the Bread of Life, the presence of Christ becomes real for both those who have and those who have-not. The one who gives is blessed in Spirit and receives the blessing of heart that comes from giving, and those who receive can begin to know the goodness of God through the self-sacrifice of those who gave. While some carry self-sacrifice to an unhealthy extreme, for others the idea is foreign. How many people do you know that cast after happiness by moving from purchase to purchase, from party to party and trip to trip? The moment they are still they are unhappy. Without a genuine spiritual life I’m not sure we can really enjoy much of anything. All is motion and there is no stillness and peace to know that the Lord is God.

Spending time alone to rest, read, pray and think is the foundation to a meaningful life. I pray our young people will come to value quiet time in their lives. When I was a teenager, and I don’t think things have changed in this regard, the busier you were the more important you were. This is rubbish, and I’m afraid it is embraced in our culture all too freely. Here is where being spiritual makes us counter-cultural in a way that gives really meaning to our lives.

We each need to find a balance, but without the Bread of Life being part of our lives no true balance is possible. As we receive the Eucharist today, let us invite Christ to be our life and our guide. He promises to be our Good Shepherd and the food we need for life’s journey. Let us receive him with confident faith and learn to live in and through him in all things.

In Christ’s peace, Fr. Leo