When we have eaten an amazing meal, we feel content as we linger over good conversation and a glass of wine. To be full means that nothing is lacking. It evokes a sense of satisfaction. No longing or desire for more is left. In a sense, it is completeness. If we have over-eaten at a meal, we may even think we will not feel hungry again for a long time, but of course, by the time the next meal comes around, we are indeed ready for more.
We can also acknowledge how “unsatisfying” a meal can be when we eat mindlessly, like eating a whole bag of potato chips while watching a movie. It is done robotically, without awareness, and then suddenly, we go from feeling hungry to feeling a little nauseated or “stuffed.”
In our culture today, we may even enjoy that “state of being hungry” when we are assured that the next great meal is waiting for us; however, how would that experience differ if we were not assured that we would eat again? For those who have experienced the effects of poverty, that experience, instead of anticipation, is actually a state of suffering.
Eucharistic Feasting
In the gospel today, the crowd is looking right at Jesus, but they do not realize that He is the Bread that satisfies and gives life. Jesus makes the connection that He is the source of all fulfillment, the satisfaction of all our hunger and thirst:
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
It can be easy to think – “How can they miss this when they are looking right at him?” Yet, it gives us pause to consider how we approach the Eucharist at Mass. Do we see in every Eucharist the answers to our deepest longings, the fulfillment of all we desire? Do we ever approach the altar mindlessly or preoccupied?
Filled with the Spirit
Now, let us contrast our experiences with that of St. Stephen. What does it mean to be like St. Stephen who in today’s reading is “filled with the Holy Spirit”? Notice the word “filled.” There is nothing lacking in St. Stephen who is facing the animosity of the crowd. He is complete, satisfied by Christ. It is here in his state of being fully awake, seeing the glory of God, that he has the grace to lay down his life and offer two of the same words Christ offered on the Cross: forgiveness to his persecutors and commending his own life to God.
To be filled with the Spirit means imitating Christ in his one and only desire to do the will of the Father. In His Divine Will, embraced by his intimate Love, there and there alone will we find true rest and peace.
What a beautiful reflection! Thank you.