For the World in Its Present Form Is Passing Away

September 10, 2008

Wednesday of the Twenty-Third Week of Ordinary Time

By Melanie Rigney

For the world in its present form is passing away. (1 Corinthians 7:31)

“Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied.” (Luke 6:21)

Piety

We hunger for you, Lord. We hunger for you, Lord. Come, feed us now with living bread. We hunger for you, Lord. (From “We Long for You, O Lord,” Cyril A. Reilly, © Lorenz Corporation)

Study

Today's Readings

How do you know when you’re hungry?

Most of us with computer access may have never known true physical hunger on a chronic basis. That kind of hunger doesn’t come from skipping a meal here and there. Conversely, we may have spiritual or emotional hunger as a companion more often than we know or act upon.

That kind of hunger isn’t idle curiosity. It’s the kind of restless that keeps you awake at night, but that you can’t quite put the finger on a cause. It nudges your soul a little bit when you let the plate go by at second collection or when you don’t even give a “No, sorry,” to a street person who asks for your spare change.

If you are open to it, that kind of hunger sneaks up and grabs you by the throat when you see Christ in a friend’s service or kindness or peace. “I need some of that,” you tell yourself, but you’re not quite sure how to get it. You’re not Godly enough or articulate enough or smart enough to get as much of that as your friend has, but maybe a little bit will do, will ease your famine. Then you learn you can’t buy it in the store, and you find out that all the donations of time, talent, and treasure in the world won’t purchase it either. So you keep watching your friend, getting hungrier all the time as you watch, because you see just how calm and good that friend is almost all the time. You know there’s a secret there somewhere, and that someday, your friend will tell you the password, show you the handshake.

And then, one day, you finally figure it out. There is a password: Christ. There is a handshake: open, honest sharing. You get that the real secret is that all this stuff is free—to anyone who asks.

And you resolve that like Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind, you’re never going hungry again. No, not you nor any of your kin. And you know that your kin encompasses the planet. And all you want to do is feed them using whatever gifts God has given you.

Feed His sheep. Please. They’re hungry.

Action

More than eighty Iraqi refugees are arriving in our area, and the Diocese of Arlington’s Migration and Refugee Services (MRS) is asking parishes for help. The world in its present form has indeed passed away for these people who assisted the United States in its work in Iraq. Show them a Christlike welcome through a donation to your parish, or contact MRS.