18th Sunday OT - Fr. Leo
Today’s readings invite us to be soulful in our living. Soulfulness, as a way of being and living revealed in the scriptures', comparing and contrasting earthly food and ‘heavenly” food. We need both. Earthly food sustains the body, that is why the Israelites groaned about their need for food. God provided for their hunger with manna in the dessert.
In the Gospel, the food becomes a metaphor for spiritual food. Jesus declares himself “Bread from Heaven.” His love, made explicit in his death and resurrection, is the food that feeds our souls.
Living in a scientific material world, we think of food in terms of tasty nourishment to sustain our bodies. This we achieve with the mind. When we feel hunger, we know what we need to do to satisfy our hunger. If our hunger becomes extreme, it may affect our mood, making us hangry. But once fed, we carry on.
The food of the soul has to do with our “carrying on.” Jesus feeds our hearts and brings purpose to what we do in-between and during meals. Meaning comes from living from the heart, and the love that dwells their needs to be nourished as well. Hence, to receive Christ’s bread and body is to nourish our hearts in the loving presence of God.
Of course, like any food, spiritual food needs to be digested. This is the work of prayer. We don’t come here to go through empty motions, but to open ourselves to receive what is beyond understanding. Only with the soul’s imagination can we find ourselves moved by Christ making his love our love, and our living in this world, His living in this world.
Prayer allows the real presence of God to be known and lived. It is like noticing again an old picture on the wall that reveals new things we never saw in it before. It moves us with inspiration as we experience beauty once again, which is what soul food is all about. It is in that timeless experience when life becomes art lived in the colors of God’s love.