Peace be with you!

Our theme this year for Lent is Hunger. Throughout Lent, we will hear and learn about the effects that physical and spiritual hunger have on the world we live in. Most of us, if not all of us, have experienced both forms of hunger in our lives.

We could have encountered men and women looking for food and shelter, we could have met someone who was in the midst of a dark and painful time in their lives, or we could have been those people seeking physical and spiritual nourishment.

Over the next 40 or so days as we journey toward the Tomb, we will continue to encounter the pains of physical and spiritual hunger. There is no simple answer for us to solve these growing issues, but we do have a guide - Jesus. Time and again we will hear this Lent about Jesus' journey with hunger. Next weekend's Gospel deals directly with Jesus and His physical hunger in the desert. As Lent continues we will hear Jesus spiritually and physically feeding His Apostles; culminating with the Institution of the Eucharist, His true Body and Blood left for us and re-presented each time we gather at Mass.

As we get ready for Lent and encounter hunger in our world, let us not forget the importance of our own need for nourishment. If we wish to respond generously to the call to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit the imprisoned, we must first be fed, both spiritually and physically (Matthew 25). To remain spiritually fed, we have to keep our communication with God open so that we can receive nourishment from Him. If we try to answer this call without Him, we risk hearing the words of Jesus "Depart from Me. I never knew you." (Matthew 7:23) But if we latch ourselves to the Father and do His will, then we will be the sheep who sit on the right of the Son of Man.

This week, let us pray for the strength, courage, and perseverance to answer God's call in Matthew 25. As we journey into Lent and continue to dive deeper into the theme of Hunger, let us ask God to reveal in our hearts how we can feed the hungry in both their physical and spiritual needs. Only then can we begin to tackle the problem of hunger in our world today.

Totus Tuus!

Corpus Christi-St. Bernard's Communications Team