What might you be thinking or feeling when you notice a homeless person on the street? Feel sympathetic, feel a need to reach inside your pocket for some loose change or think about walking and accepting it as an everyday scene. It is a sight no one can simply ignore without an inkling or a tug in feeling sorry for them.

A friend shared a story with me about his encounter with a homeless person that really struck me. He witnessed a stranger handing a homeless person some money. To his surprise, the homeless person reacted angrily and said, “I don’t need your money!”. You would think people in such a situation naturally would take the donation for food or any other kind of purchase that can satisfy something of their life even momentarily, even when it might be detrimental to their health, some kind of substance or alcohol. In this instance, the homeless person shows that they hunger for more than what fills their stomach. Money wasn’t their prime need. My friend, who is a pastoral worker, tells me they sought proper acknowledgement and understanding in hearing their story. Underneath there is a deeper hunger than what our eyes can see.

This weekend’s gospel passage, Jesus proclaims to the crowd that “I am the bread of life” really makes us think “What really nourishes our deepest desires?”  The gospel says it in this way: do not work for food that cannot last but work for food that endures to eternity life. Mary Coloe makes this observation, “there are multiple signs in our own society of people’s deep hunger for something. This hunger and thirst can be side-tracked into addictions that distract or appease the hunger temporarily – drugs, gambling, alcohol, smoking, addictive buying. The gospel suggests that our deepest hungers can only be satisfied by attention to things of the Spirit.” I interpret these words into my own and describe it as something ingrained in us, set in our being, written in our soul.

Sensual desires have their purpose. We are created to enjoy the gift of creation and what it has to offer for our enjoyment not just survival. Then there are desires that truly satisfies in the here and now and beyond. St Augustine puts it perfectly after trying to fill his spiritual hunger with other than things that are spiritual, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Our bread of life is sacramental which makes the invisible present. We are nourished by Christ who is present in the Eucharist and in the Word. Sharing of the Eucharist and the Word brings nourishment to ourselves and others.

The next time a homeless person is in your sight, a donation can satisfy their hunger, a hello and a nod can satisfy a little something in their heart.

By Fr Hoang Dinh