THE GREAT HUNGER

[The following is the second draft of a 2 page homily for this morning. As I was preaching it, I realized I was too heady, too cloudy, too vague, so I hope this second much longer blog reading version articulates some of what I was hungering to preach on for today.]

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this Tuesday after the Epiphany is, “The Great Hunger.”

Today’s readings triggered for me some wonderings and ponderings about hunger - desire - thirst  - want - need - the inner itch - our triggers…. what I’m looking for, what I’m searching for down deep at my motivation levels.

Does that phrase, “The Great Hunger” trigger anything inside you?

If someone asked, “What is your great hunger?” - would you have an answer or a comment?

Does everyone have a great hunger?

Are our desires and hungers mixed company - a complex pull of needs and wants - that we might never have prioritized? 

Does anyone prioritize their needs? Maybe on paper, but in reality, does anyone ever vote on their priorities?

I don't know.

Well, I would think unconsciously "Yes" at times - but it would be an “all depends” at other times.

Wait! Is there a list of hungers?

For example:

·        To have a place and space,

·        To be healthy,

·        To be successful,

·        To be recognized,

·        To be accepted as is,

·        To have a family,

·        To love and be loved,

·        To enjoy each day,

·        To matter,

·        To have meaning,

·        To understand and be understood,

·        To know God’s will,

·        To do God’s will,

·        That my kids do well,

·        To see an end to wars,

·        To spend our money on food not guns,

·        That everyone have daily bread,

·        That everyone be given a chance,

·        That peace is given a chance,

·        To be happy,

·        Liberty and justice for all,

·        To make a difference….

When I looked up the phrase, “The Great Hunger” last night I found out it’s the name of  a 6,081 poem by Patrick Kavanagh - an Irish poet whose dates are 1904-1967. The poem is about The Great Hunger - or “An Gorta Mor” - in Gaelic. In Ireland in the 1840’s they had the great Potato Famine - when so many were starving or were starved to death - or they migrated or immigrated elsewhere. It was a great hunger.

As I read up about some of this last night, I found out that starvation as a weapon has be used as a weapon down through history. 

All this got me thinking again about Abraham Maslow’s pyramid of human needs. 

Notice the bottom - the most basic level of human needs. We see there our bodily needs for food and water, etc. 

Next comes our need for safety and security. 

So a message would be: don’t talk about justice and self esteem if I need you to hand me a piece of bread or some fish.

Then teach me how to fish.

Don't we all feel the impact of the message: "If you give me a fish, I eat tonight; if you teach me how to fish, I eat the rest of my life."

But don't tell me that - if right now I'm starving.

Then jobs ...  jobs … jobs … plows, shovels, land, seed, support ….

So for starters, The Great Hunger, is for food.

After that, the phrase, “The Great Hunger” can challenge us to look at all human hungers: for peace, for winning, for recognition, for communication,  for whatever triggers the great pulls of our spirit for more - for satisfaction - for solution - for any and every kind of redemption, salvation, forgiveness, meaning, serenity.

TODAY’S FIRST READING

As I said, today’s readings triggered that phrase, “The Great Hunger.” 

Today's first reading from 1^st John has a lot more grab for me - than yesterdays first reading from that same document - 1 John 3: 22 - 4:6.

In today's first reading - notice that 1^st John 4:8 has this challenging and scary statement: “Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.”

For starters imagine not being hungry for love?  

Hopefully, we know that central message about life. 

Hopefully, we have had many, many, glimpses and experiences of love.

Hopefully, we know we are hungry for more. 

Hopefully, we know where love begins. It’s with parents - when we were little babies. 

Hopefully, it’s was with all those folks who held us - and  said, “Goo Goo!”  to us - and waved to us - and smiled at us.

Love is necessary - obviously - at the very beginning.

Once more as today's first reading begins: "Beloved, let us love one another because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten of God and has knowledge of God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love."

So when we begin to look at the this great issue of The Great Hungers - we need to start with children.  We need to put major resources into children - to give them a lot of head starts - not just with education - but with being wanted, welcomed, saluted, talked to, held, every day. After being fed food - all need to be fed love - in all its forms each day. 

This homily has long left the pulpit .... 

I'm seeing this as a chance to line up in one place a lot of thoughts on some of these basic hungers we all have for a richer life.

If I've lost you by now, you're not reading this. If you're still with me, let keep rolling on.

Speaking of children - let me place here something I learned way back in 1966. 

I first heard this from a psychiatrist at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington D.C. We had just finished our seminary training as priests in upstate New York. Now we were at St. Mary's, Annapolis, Maryland. Part of that program was to attend some lectures at a psychiatric hospital in D.C. I don’t know if I wrote it down on paper, but I wrote it down on the walls of my mind this principle: “The bigger the problem - the earlier the problem.”

I have said that statement to myself hundreds of times ever since - especially as I listened to people talk about their children and their lives.

I remembered saying that statement when I was listening to F. Lee Bailey - the famous attorney -  on a TV talk. He was talking about  some of the horrible experiences that happened to his client Alfred DeSalvo - sometimes called,  “The Boston Strangler.”

For the past 48 years as a priest, I have always felt sympathy for anyone who is in a mess or who messes up - especially as they tell me about the early chapters of their autobiographies.

This includes the abused as well as abusers.

Part two of that statement is not popular today - especially because our chanceries have often failed to protect our children - putting too much concern for priests who committed crimes of abuse without concern for the little ones.

We had forgotten Jesus' message: "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea." [Cf. Matthew 18: 6, Mark 9:42, and Luke 17:2.]

We finally got the message: these are crimes and call 911.

Yet I ask inwardly - as I do of most people - “What are the Great Hungers of perpetrators?”

At one time professionals said they could be healed.  Now they often say: “Some can’t be healed.”

For anyone who is a priest - for anyone who is a Christian - for anyone who knows the Prodigal Son story by heart - not being able to be healed is Bad News - not Good News - not Gospel.

Enough on that - and that I most probably - would not voice from the pulpit.

Back to children ….

I don’t have children - but whenever I have a baptism - I love the moment early on when parents and god-parents - and all can be asked  to thumb a tiny sign of the cross on a child.

I love to then read what I believe is a baptismal text from the Gospel of Mark - 10:13-16 -  when Jesus says, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” 

I love to say in a short homily after reading that text:  “Pass onto this child or these children - not just the sign of the cross - that act of faith - but all the hopes of our faith - that we give these kids our love and our time - a love which is all about caring and serving - giving and sacrificing - so that  these kids pick up all these acts of kindness and love. Children - all our lives -  hunger for love - and in giving we receive - in dying to self - we are rising to new life.

I love to say that children are our most basic teachers - and those who don’t love children - ain’t going to get to God - “for God is love.” 

Isn't that what the text we heard from 1^st John  is saying to us today.

Once more: Here are 1^st John’s opening words in today’s first reading: “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.”

This 1^st Letter of John is a great place to begin if you have a hunger for scriptures - because down deeper you have a hunger for God.

And John tells us - visible before invisible. Action before talk.

“Love is all you need ….” “Love is what we need….” That’s a bottom line that we hear everyday in the air from the radio and iTunes -  in all those love songs. 

Love is the bottom line. It's the deepest reason why we are working, living. It's for connection and communion - relationships - with real visible others who are in our minds, thoughts, senses - people with names and personalities - family, co-workers, friends, neighbors, associates, etc. etc. those in our space - in our face - everyday.

So I’m saying here what the scriptures are saying, “The Greatest Hunger is for communion with people - community." It starts with the need for food - and then to see visible people - the face - the eyes - the smile - of our mom and dad - and this leads us down deep to the greatest human hunger - to be in and with God.

As Christians our revelation is that this God is not just a word - but a Word who became flesh and told us about Our Father and the Spirit of Love between them - that our God is a Trinity of Persons - who are in unity - in love - with each other. Now that’s mystery big time.

As Christians there are many more revelations and mysteries. For our purposes here - because I've been talking about food - there is the second great revelation from the Word made flesh - from the 2^nd Person in this God of ours: God is Bread.

If one thinks about all this - at times it makes so much sense: Bread, Wine, Hunger, Thirst, communion, eating with each other. One family table - things we hunger for - not to go it alone. The Mass - what we’re doing right now.

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Today’s Gospel - Mark 6: 33-44 - as I said - also triggered these comments about The Great Hunger. 

Today’s gospel story of the Loaves and the Fishes  tells the story of Jesus seeing this vast crowd starving - and he asked that they be fed till they were satisfied - and he will help in the feeding.

Our call is to feed our own families first. This is a daily task - this working for daily bread.

Then the scream of today’s gospel: there are others who are hungry. We’re all in this together.

Of course there are the hungry in our midst - of course there are starving people in our world - and in places right now - Syria, Sudan, Nigeria, - starvation is being used as a weapon.

We're not there. We're here.

There are things we can do here. We can keep food pantries working. We can  keep St. Vincent de Paul help coming. We can pitch in and help put Lighthouse Shelter meals on the table  as well as sandwiches to hand out.

The message is to see visible hungers first - and they will trigger the reality of invisible hungers.

I like St. Mary’s theme, motto, for this year: “Every Person Matters.”

I think every person down deep has the Great Hunger to matter.

Two challenges from Mother Teresa still sound in our ears:

“Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat."

"One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody."

CLOSING

If you are still reading this, like you I hunger for a closing - not a conclusion - I made a lot of those already in this blog homily.

Today we might run into a situation where we are able to help someone who is cold and hungry for food and shelter. Just do it - if possible.

Today we certainly will meet people who will say something to us. Whatever it is, let’s listen to each other today.

Listen to that kid - to a spouse, a friend, a co-worker, and say, “Wait a second…. What did you just say? Let me hear that again. I want to get what you're saying. Thanks!”

And they will experiencing someone trying to  listen to them - seeing someone looking them in the eye.

Surprise they will be getting a glimpse that they matter to someone else.

Surprise - they are experiencing communion - receiving  a slice of bread that can bring them into deeper satisfaction with another human being as well as God.

Surprise these tiny daily moments feed our great hunger to be heard, noticed, known, loved. Then in being loved we both experience God in the communion - this God within us - around us - for God is love. Amen.

OOOOOOOOO

Picture on top: Potato Famine sculptures in Dublin, Ireland