TO FEED THE HUNGRY

We were taught when we went to Sunday School or parochial school or maybe even sitting on our mother’s or grandmother’s lap that one of our responsibilities as a Christian was to help those who were in need. Our teachers helped us understand what being in need really meant because we never needed anything. We were very blessed even if we did not know it t that time.

Oh, there were lots of things we wanted, that is true. And so or teachers first had to help us understand the difference between wants and needs. The truth, of course, is that we are still learning that difference even in our older ages. We still struggle within ourselves fighting over if what we desire is truly a need or simple a want that we can do without and know we can do without. It is a life-long struggle that even the most sainted deal with until the last breath.

Being blessed as we were, and still are, we have to imagine what it must be like to be in need even if only to understand what Jesus was talking about when he commanded us to take care of the needs of those who are less blessed than we are. And those needs and the people in need are many and simply overwhelming. Yet, even if our own response to those in need barely makes a dent in relieving the suffering of others, we still must do what we can. As a Christian, we have no choice, do we?

The greatest need that anyone has, rich or poor, is to be fed, to have enough food simply to live from one day to the next. Personally, I do not know what that is like. Even when I have been on countless diets and think I am starving to death, I not only have enough to eat, I have more to eat in one day than millions of people around the world have to eat in a week. I cannot imagine what that must be like.

But I have to; we have to. That is our Christian responsibility and one of the corporeal works of mercy Jesus preached about and responded to. He fed the people with real food when he could and fed them with spiritual food when that is what they needed. For people, all people, you and I, need to be fed spiritually as well as physically. But we cannot be fed spiritually if our stomachs are empty.

My suspicion is that the reason Christianity has not succeeded in winning the world over is that we Christians spend an inordinate time preaching the Gospel, even tending to spiritual works of mercy, while neglecting to take care of the corporeal needs of the people. Our Gospel has been rejected by those who see us living in prosperity, having more than we need, wasting what we have, while doing relatively little to take care of their needs by sharing what we have in abundance.

The Gospel message, even if it is a bumper-sticker one, reminds us to “Live Simply so that Others May Simply Live”. That is a difficult message to hear and an even more difficult to live out. But it is the basic message of the Gospel and the basis for truly living out our faith. So how are we, how am I, responding?