HAVE OTHERS BEEN DRAWING LIFE FROM YOU?
In this time of COVID pandemic we as a community are concerned about the welfare of everyone. The ‘job seeker’, ‘job keeper’ programs and such other initiatives are helping many to have food on their tables which otherwise would not have been possible. We also know that just food and shelter are not enough for the welfare of the people. Isolations strategies designed to prevent the spread of the virus are causing a rise in the problems related to mental health. This is because human beings are, by nature, social beings. Even socialisation is not enough for a fulfilling life. Humans got the ability to look beyond the temporal world and go beyond sensory satisfactions. We are spiritual beings. Therefore, we need spiritual nourishment and a fellowship that can provide more than sensory satisfaction.
Jesus said to nourish your lives with me as your food and drink. While Moses gave food from God to nourish the hungry in the desert, Jesus is himself as the food for the spiritual fulfilment of his disciples. Jesus is not just another prophet. He is the one who went to the extent of sacrificing his life on the cross. Such was his love for us. Therefore, his service to humanity was quite unique.
Jesus abides in the Father and the Father abides in him. That means they are one. Such was their intimacy. Jesus desires such intimacy with his disciples as well. That is the kind of fellowship he is seeking with us. Our gathering around the Altar for Mass is because of our desire to become one with Jesus who was at our service even with a death on the cross. Taking the blessed bread at the Altar for holy bonding with the person of Jesus, what we call Holy Communion, is our spiritual nourishment for a fulfilling life of fellowship with Jesus and each other.
Jesus tells us that to have life we need more than physical nourishment. Now ask yourself whether you have been aware of that deeper hunger and the way to satisfy that hunger. To satisfy our deeper hunger Jesus is not giving us some thing, but himself with his death and resurrection. Do you see your faith as a bonding with the person of Jesus? What are the practices in your life that support your faith in the person of Jesus? During these restrictions, how much have you missed the spiritual nourishment, while you were not able to have the Communion with the Body of Jesus? If you abide in the person of Jesus and draw life from him, others will be able to draw life from you. This is the test for your spiritual life: Have others been drawing life from you?
