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BY MARY ANN STEUTERMANN
Jesus said that those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” are blessed in the Beatitudes, but there’s an epidemic of spiritual malnutrition today that’s anything but holy.
I came across a sad news story today. Twenty-one people in Kenya have died of starvation. The Good News International Church leader there, Paul Makenzie Nthenge, instructed the members to starve themselves to meet Jesus. I feel sadness at the senseless loss of life and anger at this person’s cruel abuse of power and manipulation of those who “hunger for God.”
This hunger for God is in our cells. As I have written before, I believe that we all share a divine DNA. We’re all made of the same sacred stuff. It stands to reason, then that a spiritual homing device would live deep within us and drive our longing.
The Road to Emmaus
The gospel reading this past Sunday told the story of two disciples who failed to recognize the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus. It wasn’t until he broke bread with them that they understood. “And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened, and they recognized him….” (Luke 24:30-31).
I don’t think it’s any accident that it was through food and drink that the presence of Christ was revealed. Throughout the gospels, Jesus’ words and actions make it clear that eating is a sacred act. Consider him feeding the 5,000 with only five loaves and two fishes (Matthew 14). He also included “give us our daily bread” in his instructions for how to pray (6). Even more, he referred to himself as “the bread of life” (John 6), and he laid the foundation for the Eucharist at the Last Supper (Luke 22). Food is life.
Why, then, do so many people today experience “spiritual malnutrition?” Why aren’t they able to satisfy the longing for God within them? I think the three conditions that bring about physical starvation also lead to a spirit choked off from the nutrients it needs to thrive.
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