We must join always with the multitude who found themselves gathered around Christ. Of course this path that leads us towards the side of Christ can become most difficult for us to faithfully stay upon. As the multitude became famished with a lack of food, so do we become famished and weak when we do not worthily enter into the life of the Sacraments. Without worthily entering into the life of the Sacraments we are left wondering about on a path which leads us to nowhere and we in return will be left to collapse upon the side of the road and ultimately be left for dead. The Sacraments are the very thing which have been instituted for us by Christ in which we are invited to enter into in order that we may be drawn into relationship with Him. Through the Sacraments we are given the strength to stay faithfully upon this path with no fear of what death will hold for us because we will be found to be faithful stewards of all that God has entrusted with us.
Our world is truly famished and it is in need of nourishment. Christ fully understood this reality when He looked out upon the multitude who were present and worked this miracle which would truly bring nourishment into their life as a foreshadowing to the Eucharist. We can seek to find this nourishment that is most necessary in plenty of places, but we will never find that we have been filled. When we are hungry we know that we must consume food in order to be nourished. It is not good enough for us to simply taste it or to smell it because these actions alone will never fulfill what we are actually in search for, which is nourishment. It is for this reason that sex, drugs, alcohol, and many other activities never give us fulfillment. We are never given fulfillment in any of these places because when they are used to escape our present reality they are never going to give us fulfillment. These actions can even consume us to the point where we fall into the state of mortal sin and thus allow ourself to be cut off from sanctifying grace.
The Sacraments are indeed what is necessary for us to be fulfilled. Christ desires for us to be joined to Him through the Holy Eucharist. If we are plagued by sin it must be through the Eucharist that we are healed. If we have fallen into the state of mortal sin we must realize that the Sacrament of Confession is not to be feared, but instead to be welcomed because it allows us to return to our relationship with Christ found in the Eucharist. If we truly desire to receive nourishment, not just something that is bodily, but also spiritually, we will flock towards the Eucharist. Yes Christ was giving the multitude food which would conquer their hunger, but He would also feed their soul with the bread of life which does not pass away. In the Eucharist each of us are given the great opportunity to receive nourishment which will never pass away and here we will come to discover our true fulfillment that cannot be found anywhere else.
May each of us worthily flock towards the Eucharist this day. Through the Eucharist may we allow ourself to reciprocate the love that is shown to us by Christ who sees that we have grown famished in this life. In the Eucharist we will be nourished and here alone will we find the fulfillment that we desire within our heart. Through sin and the exclusion of God we will never find this reality until we are ready to surrender ourself to the great mystery of love that is found within the Eucharist alone. For in the Eucharist it is Christ who comes in the form of bread and wine to dwell with us. The Eucharist, as we know is not a mere symbol, but instead the Eucharist is truly the Body and the Blood of Christ. Through this most wondrous gift we should know that Christ does not desire to see us famished in the state of sin and despair, but instead He desires to usher the great reality of nourishment and fulfillment into our life. May we continue to grow in our love for the Eucharist and may we always allow it to be placed at the center of our life instead of allowing ourself to surrender to the weight of sin.
As we will hear following our reception of Holy Communion in what is know as the post-communion prayer: "We have been filled, O Lord, with Thy gifts: grant, we beseech Thee, that we may be cleansed by their effect and defended by their aid." We will truly be cleansed and defended if we allow the Eucharist to to bring life to us who are found famished by the path that lies before us; because only here will we find nourishment and fulfillment.
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