Newsletter February 26th 2023 (1st Sunday of Lent)

A thought …

Our deepest needs are not met by physical food and drink. Human beings need and yearn for more, for spiritual nurture. To help save other people from hunger and misery, we need to listen to God our Father, who awakens in our conscience a hunger for justice and solidarity.

Perhaps our great temptation today is to “change things into bread”, to reduce our desires to what is tangible and consumable. Indiscriminate consumerism is all around us, but it is hardly the way to progress and liberation. A consumerist society leads to emptiness and discontent. Why do we barricade ourselves  in  gated communities, and build walls and barriers to stop hungry people from sharing our prosperity and disturbing our peace?

Jesus wants us to be aware that human beings do not live on bread alone. We also need to nurture the spirit, know love and friendship, develop solidarity with those who suffer, listen to our conscience, open to the ultimate Mystery of sharing, that joins us with God.