Fr Billy Swan
Dear friends. These days, we are increasingly aware of the importance of a healthy diet. The food we eat has a huge bearing on our health and well-being. Good food leads to healthy people. Bad food or junk food leads to multiple health problems.
In all three readings for this Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, there is mention of food and drink. In the first reading from Proverbs, Lady Wisdom invites all of us to come and eat the food she has prepared. All is ready and waiting. But in order to come and eat this food, we must ‘leave our folly behind’. We must make a choice to abandon certain diets of the soul and nourish our deeper hungers with the food that truly satisfies. In the Psalm we are invited to ‘taste and see that the Lord is good’ - that God’s goodness can be tasted, experienced and that his ways are good for us. In the second reading, St Paul urges us not to become hooked on drink or other stimulants but to feed instead on the life of faith, gratitude and thanksgiving to God. Finally in the Gospel, Jesus continues to teach us that he is the Bread of Life whose flesh is real food and whose blood is real drink. His amazing message is clear: ‘whoever eats me will draw life from me.’
From all of this, what then are we to do? The answer: choose carefully the food that we eat – avoid the junk food of the body and soul and eat the rich spiritual food that is waiting and prepared. We all have an idea of what physical junk food looks like but we are less clear about what spiritual junk food we need to avoid. Here are some examples of what might be considered spiritual junk food and the spiritually healthy food that we need instead.
Spiritual junk food - Bad news of doom and gloom. Too much of this can drag us down. Find a good news story, rejoice in some good being done and rejoice in someone else’s happiness. More spiritual junk food - Finding fault with others. We often delight in the sins and failures of others. Naming their good points is far less fun but it brings peace, builds bridges and builds people up. More spiritual junk food - Too many soaps, reality TV shows, screen time and the world of fantasy: they can distract us from reality that is far more interesting and life-giving.
Healthy spiritual food – Read the lives of inspirational people. Read the lives of the saints, order DVD’s of their lives and watch them together as families. Download the ‘Planet Finder’ App. I did this a few weeks ago and it teaches you so much – where the planets are in the night sky and where to find them. Commit yourself to some spiritual reading every day. We can’t do better than the daily readings contained in the Magnificat booklet which also has inspiring reflections to nourish the soul. Know your faith, love your faith. Magazines like ‘the Sacred Heart Messenger’ can be a great way of providing for a staple and healthy spiritual diet for all the family. Be careful using the internet. On-line there is a huge range of spiritual food that can feed us and enough junk food to injure and kill us.
Adjusting our spiritual diets might mean spending less time on-line or on our phones and more time dedicated to prayer, visiting the elderly or the sick. It might mean spending less time indoors watching less TV and more time taking a walk in the country and feasting our eyes and souls on the beauty of light and colour in God’s creation. Finally, eating more spiritual food might mean taking Jesus precisely at his word in the Gospel today: by participating more regularly in the Eucharist, at least on Sundays, where we receive the living bread that gives life to us and to the world. Participating in the Eucharist is the high point for the soul that feeds itself with the inspiration of Jesus himself and every aspect of his life – his truth, his mercy, his compassion, his charity, his cross, his love and forgiveness. The more we feed on him, the more like him we become.
These are just some examples of how we can eat more spiritual food and less junk. We are what we eat, so make sure you’re eating wholesome spiritual food every day. The table is ready and set. Dinner is served.
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