What do you hunger for? Whom do you hunger for?
The recent National Eucharistic Congress marks the culmination of the past three years of
Eucharistic Revival in the U.S. If you have attended the event or begun to view some of the talks
from the Congress, you likely have been set afire with renewed love for our Lord in the
Eucharist. Fittingly, today’s Gospel passage invites us to meditate on the bread of life discourse,
in which Jesus reveals the reality of the Eucharist. How, though, do we begin to speak of such
inexhaustible treasure? How do we put into words what the Eucharist means for each of us?
Adoration
Perhaps the best I can offer here is to share my own recent encounter. A couple of months ago, I
was blessed to partake of Adoration once again after a long hiatus of one and a half years. Before
my youngest son was born, I had been able to visit the nearby Adoration chapel every couple of
weeks, yet after him, that regular practice ceased. Over time, I began to ache for the joy that was
now missing.
When I finally returned to Adoration a couple of months ago, I entered the chapel as if returning
from exile to a beloved home. I knelt down before our Lord, settled into His luminous Presence,
and as I gazed upon Him I experienced a flood of emotion I had not known for a long time. The
tears poured forth abundantly. Perhaps the best way to describe it was that I felt like laughing and
crying at the same time. Such was the intensity of joy in reunion with Jesus.
Bread for the Hungry
It was then that I realized how much I had been starved of being with Him these past one and a
half years. There is no gift on this side of heaven so precious as the goodness of sitting right
there before Jesus in the Eucharist, conversing from one’s heart to His Heart, resting in the
unfathomable love of His Gaze. It is here that the deepest longing of one’s heart surges forth and
finds its consummation in being with the divine Beloved. I felt like one who has been famished
and suddenly finds bread.
Among the insights that came to me during that time of Adoration was the unshakeable
conviction in the Real Presence. Again and again, I discerned that I was in the presence of a real,
living Person. Indeed, the reality of Jesus truly there, alive and loving me out of His Heart,
overwhelmed me like a flood of grace.
Rest in His Gaze
As I reflected upon today’s Gospel passage from the Bread of Life discourse, what struck me
was not so much the words themselves but the love dwelling in the silence between those words.
Jesus tells the people who have come after Him, “Labor not for the food which perishes, but for
the food which remains into life everlasting.” Stirred by this exhortation, the people entreat,
“Give us this bread always.” It is here that we may pause and rest in the gaze between Jesus and
the people around him. He senses their longing. We may imagine that He looks upon them with
great love for a long while before finally unleashing the radical answer to their desire: “I am the
bread of life.”
Friends, I invite you to linger here in prayer in this moment of Jesus’ revelation of Himself to the
listening soul. Bring all your restless hunger to Him and gaze upon Him with your bare,
impoverished heart. Know that He gazes back at you with deep love and declares that He
Himself is the bread you desire: “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be
hungry.” Allow these words of nourishment to sink into your soul. Let all your deepest longing
come forth to the loving Gaze of the Lord, He who gives himself away for the life of the world.
A married couple who also attended the recently completed National Eucharistic Congress has been sharing their experiences while at and now after the event. They too, were greatly moved by attending the event and have felt an internal growth of the spiritual within them. I was very surprised that they reported me that the next conference is slated to occur in 9 years. Is this accurate?
My question: With such an outpouring of the spirit thus evident, why is there going to be a gap of 9 years before the next national congress?