Season of Mercy - Feed the Hungry

The heart of the commandment to feed the hungry is not food. It is something greater.

Certainly, being among our most fundamental necessities, not only to live well, but to live at all, food is deeply important to the corporal work of mercy of feeding the hungry. And to a person in need, that want of basic nourishment can feel more pressing than any other.

But we hunger for more than food. And in offering food to others, we share more than physical sustenance.

I have been blessed with the opportunity to help serve meals to the hungry with my family through Catholic Charities over a number of years, placing a piece or two of bread on a guest's plate with my younger brother thousands of times along the way. I have been blessed with countless other opportunities too, to share smiles, and see smiles shared, throughout those afternoons and evenings.

In that time, I have had the great pleasure to meet many guests and fellow volunteers and staff members, including some who have become dear friends. Even among those whom I have known only fleetingly, I have experienced first hand the truth in the saying that there are no strangers--only friends whom we have not yet met.

We have prayed together, and spoken of Jesus and the gospel together.

We have shaken hands, and hugged. We have joked, and laughed. We have joined in a sea of Santa hats, and filled our hall with the ringing sound of Christmas carols, guests and hosts alike singing all together. We have comforted each other in sadness and loss, and exulted in each other's joy. We have shared countless smiles together in a thousand ways, and openly sought God's blessing for each other many thousands of times.

We are brought together by a need for food, and a desire to serve that need. But more than that, when we are together, our room is filled with love.

The heart of the corporal act of mercy of feeding the hungry is the same as the heart of every of act of mercy, because all mercy that we share comes first from God, and is a reflection of His being, and His relationship with us, and the relationships we are meant to have with each other through Him. The heart of the commandment to feed the hungry is love.

It is possible to share food without sharing love, to feed the body without feeding the soul. I have seen that too. But nothing done in Christ is meant to be without love. His love is with us always.

In feeding the hungry, there is always an opportunity to make love a part of the bread that we share. A chance for a gentle or joyous word, or a smile, or some other kindness that helps our souls know that we are never truly apart. Even if we are helping someone on the other side of the world, that friend, whom we may never meet in this lifetime, is still within reach of our love, because that person is within reach of our prayers.

Our prayers do more than empower our love. They also demand our action. In the Our Father, Jesus teaches us to pray to God, to ask of Him, "Give us this day our daily bread." When we pray in this way, we are praying for ourselves, but also for each other, for everyone. We are praying for all of our brothers and sisters to be fed.

What we ask for in prayer, we must also work for, in whatever way we can. One of God's greatest gifts to us is that He shares so much of His love for us through the love that we share with each other.

The greatest act of feeding the hungry in our lives is also the one that is most filled with love, and that most brings us together. In the Eucharist, Christ, who is love in human form, transforms bread into a part of Himself, as a part of His perfect sacrifice for us, so that in eating of His body we may enter into communion with Him, with God the Father, and with each other.

We are all commanded to feed the hungry because we are all commanded to love. This act of love is not merely commanded; it is also a great gift from God, an opportunity for joy. We can feed each other in our daily lives, because God, with His love, with Jesus, first fed us.

John Manley

Serves on the Young Adult Board, with a focus on coordinating service and spiritual opportunities

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