Part 2: "Overfed Yet Starving"
The Ache
God is love. We were created from this love and we were made to receive this love. By living in a relationship with God, we can be completely satisfied in His love. Without God, we are left with an ache and yearn to be satisfied. Even though the ache is painful, it is good because it reminds us to turn to God and live in Him. Unfortunately, many of us do not know how to respond to the ache. Instead of turning to God and being satisfied in Him, we turn to lesser substitutes. We consume; we eat, drink, shop, stream TV, and by the end of the day, we find that we are overfed yet still starving.
It is acceptable to eat, drink, shop and stream in moderation. We want to become aware that too much of these things in isolation and for the wrong reasons can be detrimental.
Take a moment and think about how people use Netflix. How many episodes do you watch at a time? We click “Next Episode” so much that we have multiple terms for describing this behavior:
“I marathon watched 'The Walking Dead'.”
“I am going to spend all Saturday binge watching 'The Office'.”
How do you feel after binge watching TV?
How do you feel after hours of playing video games?
How do you feel after eating too much?
How do you feel after sharing a meal with friends?
How do you feel after going for a hike?
How do you feel after praying?
There is a difference between what satisfies and what doesn’t and that difference is God. God, His presence, His plan, His life satisfies. Over and over again in Scripture, God satisfies.
God Satisfies
When the Israelites are fleeing Egypt and are wandering in the desert starving, God satisfies. “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat…everyone had enough to eat.” (Exodus 16:15,18)
When King David is living in exile, in the desert, he cries out to God and God satisfies. “O God, you are my God, for you I long; for you my soul is thirsting. My body pines for you like a dry, weary, land without water… My soul shall be satisfied as with a Banquet.” (Psalm 63:1, 6)
When the crowds had followed Jesus for over three days with nothing to eat, “They ate and were satisfied.” (Matthew 15:37)
Jesus Himself is the Bread of Life, and He satisfies. “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)
In the Gospel of John, we read the story of the woman at the well. (John 4:7-41) During Jesus’s public ministry, He passed through the town of Samaria and stopped at a well for a drink. It was midday and hot. There He met a woman. She was bitter, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman for a drink?” In their conversation, it becomes clear that she had several previous relationships with men that served as substitutes for a relationship with God. This woman struggled with responding to her ache for God and was wounded from living a life without God. Jesus offers her a solution. He gives her the opportunity to drink living water, “everyone who drinks this water will never thirst again.” Jesus offers to fill her with His very self and be satisfied in Him. He is the living water. He is the Bread of Life.
Like the woman at the well, we must learn how to respond to the God-ache. Instead of turning to lesser substitutes, we must grow in our ability to turn to God and be satisfied in Him. We must develop the habit of prayer.
Prayer
Prayer can demonstrate itself in a variety of ways. Prayer can be “Lectio Divina”, like we have previously experienced. Prayer can be silence and stillness before the Eucharistic presence of Jesus, which you can experience almost any time at St. Chris by using our Adoration Chapel (just us the code: 1956*). The Eucharist is a continuation of the incarnational presence of Christ. In the Eucharist we encounter Jesus, face to face. At its core, prayer is the raising of our minds and hearts to God from the depths of a humble, yearning heart. We are beggars before God.
Adoration is a unique opportunity for us as Catholics to spend time in Christ’s true presence. Watch the video below for some helpful thoughts on the meaning of Adoration.
God is love. We were created from this love and we were made to receive this love. By living in a relationship with God, we can be completely satisfied in His love. Without God, we are left with an ache and yearn to be satisfied. Even though the ache is painful, it is good because it reminds us to turn to God and live in Him. Unfortunately, many of us do not know how to respond to the ache. Instead of turning to God and being satisfied in Him, we turn to lesser substitutes. We consume; we eat, drink, shop, stream TV, and by the end of the day, we find that we are overfed yet still starving.
It is acceptable to eat, drink, shop and stream in moderation. We want to become aware that too much of these things in isolation and for the wrong reasons can be detrimental.
Take a moment and think about how people use Netflix. How many episodes do you watch at a time? We click “Next Episode” so much that we have multiple terms for describing this behavior:
“I marathon watched 'The Walking Dead'.”
“I am going to spend all Saturday binge watching 'The Office'.”
How do you feel after binge watching TV?
How do you feel after hours of playing video games?
How do you feel after eating too much?
How do you feel after sharing a meal with friends?
How do you feel after going for a hike?
How do you feel after praying?
There is a difference between what satisfies and what doesn’t and that difference is God. God, His presence, His plan, His life satisfies. Over and over again in Scripture, God satisfies.
God Satisfies
When the Israelites are fleeing Egypt and are wandering in the desert starving, God satisfies. “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat…everyone had enough to eat.” (Exodus 16:15,18)
When King David is living in exile, in the desert, he cries out to God and God satisfies. “O God, you are my God, for you I long; for you my soul is thirsting. My body pines for you like a dry, weary, land without water… My soul shall be satisfied as with a Banquet.” (Psalm 63:1, 6)
When the crowds had followed Jesus for over three days with nothing to eat, “They ate and were satisfied.” (Matthew 15:37)
Jesus Himself is the Bread of Life, and He satisfies. “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)
In the Gospel of John, we read the story of the woman at the well. (John 4:7-41) During Jesus’s public ministry, He passed through the town of Samaria and stopped at a well for a drink. It was midday and hot. There He met a woman. She was bitter, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman for a drink?” In their conversation, it becomes clear that she had several previous relationships with men that served as substitutes for a relationship with God. This woman struggled with responding to her ache for God and was wounded from living a life without God. Jesus offers her a solution. He gives her the opportunity to drink living water, “everyone who drinks this water will never thirst again.” Jesus offers to fill her with His very self and be satisfied in Him. He is the living water. He is the Bread of Life.
Like the woman at the well, we must learn how to respond to the God-ache. Instead of turning to lesser substitutes, we must grow in our ability to turn to God and be satisfied in Him. We must develop the habit of prayer.
Prayer
Prayer can demonstrate itself in a variety of ways. Prayer can be “Lectio Divina”, like we have previously experienced. Prayer can be silence and stillness before the Eucharistic presence of Jesus, which you can experience almost any time at St. Chris by using our Adoration Chapel (just us the code: 1956*). The Eucharist is a continuation of the incarnational presence of Christ. In the Eucharist we encounter Jesus, face to face. At its core, prayer is the raising of our minds and hearts to God from the depths of a humble, yearning heart. We are beggars before God.
Adoration is a unique opportunity for us as Catholics to spend time in Christ’s true presence. Watch the video below for some helpful thoughts on the meaning of Adoration.
Experiencing God and His satisfaction is not limited to prayer. God’s presence can also be found in our relationships with others and the outdoors. This is called recreation. By living in a relationship with God, our lives start to look and feel different. We are talking to God. We are turning to Him and trusting in Him. We are taking risks. Instead of bouncing from social event to social event, we are enjoying a relationship with God. Instead of ignoring the new kid eating lunch alone, we have the courage to sit and talk to him. Instead of zoning out and watching TV for hours, we serve our brothers and sisters in need. All of this flows from our relationship with God and the grace we have received.
Recreation
The stem of the word, “recreation”, is “create.” Recreation literally means: “re-create”. When we share a meal with friends and family, when we go hiking, when we play soccer, we are renewed because we are experiencing God in others and the outdoors. Recreation is not however a competitive sports team. The goal of competitive sports is to practice and improve skills. The goal of recreation is to be renewed and to experience the person of Christ. Ultimately, Sunday, the day of rest, has been set-aside for the sole purpose of recreating. Do you truly recreate on Sunday? Or is it just another day with a list of things to do? Recreation is differing than consuming. Recreation renews us. Consuming wears on us. We consume in hopes of filling, and because we are trying to fill an infinite desire with finite goods, we find ourselves in an unending cycle that only makes us more tired.
Extraordinary Living
By living in a relationship with God, we live in the Spirit, and the fruits of the Spirit are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control…” (Romans 8:22-23)
To be extraordinary, we need to be satisfied with the extraordinary—not the ordinary. We must stop the cycle of endless consuming and start turning to Jesus, the Bread of Life, to be satisfied. It is time to make decisions that will lead to a better relationship with God. It is time to limit our use of social media, television, and other similar activities and increase our prayer and recreation. God alone can satisfy our deepest longings. By living in the Spirit, we have love, joy, and peace; we live satisfying, extraordinary lives.
Recreation
The stem of the word, “recreation”, is “create.” Recreation literally means: “re-create”. When we share a meal with friends and family, when we go hiking, when we play soccer, we are renewed because we are experiencing God in others and the outdoors. Recreation is not however a competitive sports team. The goal of competitive sports is to practice and improve skills. The goal of recreation is to be renewed and to experience the person of Christ. Ultimately, Sunday, the day of rest, has been set-aside for the sole purpose of recreating. Do you truly recreate on Sunday? Or is it just another day with a list of things to do? Recreation is differing than consuming. Recreation renews us. Consuming wears on us. We consume in hopes of filling, and because we are trying to fill an infinite desire with finite goods, we find ourselves in an unending cycle that only makes us more tired.
Extraordinary Living
By living in a relationship with God, we live in the Spirit, and the fruits of the Spirit are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control…” (Romans 8:22-23)
To be extraordinary, we need to be satisfied with the extraordinary—not the ordinary. We must stop the cycle of endless consuming and start turning to Jesus, the Bread of Life, to be satisfied. It is time to make decisions that will lead to a better relationship with God. It is time to limit our use of social media, television, and other similar activities and increase our prayer and recreation. God alone can satisfy our deepest longings. By living in the Spirit, we have love, joy, and peace; we live satisfying, extraordinary lives.
Activity: "Consumed Inventory"
What “consumes” you, and your time? Take a few moments and think about how many hours per week, on average, you estimate that you spend on the following. Then, write each activity down on a piece of paper or in a journal, and next to it the number of hours you estimate per week you spend on them.
- Streaming TV
- Viewing or posting on Social Media (all total: Facbeook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, etc.)
- Phone/Video Games
- Shopping
- Eating out with friends
- Exercise/Sports for fun
- Time for private prayer/attending Mass
Now, create a budget for yourself. In a separate column next to those first numbers, write down how long you would like to limit yourself each week doing these same activities. You might even find it helpful to make a daily budget if that helps to break it down.
Finally, reflect on the following questions, and journal your answers.
- Are you surprised by your total estimated consumption?
- How do you feel about making limits for yourself? Do you want to? Do you not want to?
- Do you think you would actually stick to your budget? What can you do to help yourself stick to it?
- Do you think by increasing recreation and prayer and decreasing consuming your life will be more extraordinary?
- What is one thing you can do to increase your prayer life this week?
To help you, I am attaching a worksheet of this activity. Click the link below to download a copy.
One of the prayers that I have found to be particularly helpful in life is the “Anima Christi”. It speaks of today’s lesson by helping us focus on allowing Christ to consume our lives, and not material things. Try praying it this week at least once, and really meditate on what its message is.