Daily Reflections ...

Yesterday Jesus assured us that he is “The way, the truth and the life”. Today we hear the first of the “I am” statements that we find in the Fourth Gospel. The question of who Jesus really is was as vital for us as it was for the disciples and for the early Christians. It is both a communal and a personal question. We can never really live out our baptism if we don’t grapple with this question.

Maybe today, we need to ask for what we really hunger and thirst for ourselves, all humanity, and the entire creation. All of us get caught into the little hungers that feed our egos and make our lives safe and comfortable. But Jesus is speaking of the big hungers and thirsts, the kingdom hungers and thirsts that we can only experience when we forget self, take risks and live simply!

Then we will come to experience the nourishment that Jesus offers to those who come to him and believe in him. We are fed in many ways through the gifts of love and friendship, through the beauty of creation, through the dignity of contributing to a society of justice and peace.

 We are fed too when we gather in the Lord’s name to encounter the living Jesus in our gathering and the scriptures and in receiving the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharistic feast. What a privileged, what a responsibility!

by Kari Hatherell OSU