Food for the Soul

   To keep our body healthy we need to feed it properly.  We need the right amounts of many things for a balanced diet.  Protein, vitamins, minerals, fats and carbohydrates are all necessary in varying amounts to properly fuel our bodies.  Eliminate any of them and we hunger.  Our body knows what it needs and craves what it is missing.

   God’s caring and love is many times represented in scripture by the feeding of those who need it.  The Israelites were fed with manna from heaven when they journeyed through the desert to the promised land.  When they complained they didn’t have meat He gave them quail.  When they complained about the lack of water, God produced water from a rock.  He nourished them for their journey and gave them what was needed.

   Our soul, just like our body, needs proper nourishment.  Without it we risk our relationship with God.  Keeping our body healthy without concern for the soul is a path to ultimate destruction.  The body will pass away, our soul lives forever.

   The food our souls crave is readily available do us.  God will provide the spiritual food for our journey just as He fed the Israelites on the way to the promised land.  If we come to Him and seek the food He offers our souls will never hunger.

   The food God gives is true food.  It is what will give us the strength to stay on the right path in this world so that we can arrive safely and spiritually healthy in the next.  He feeds us through His word in the Bible; in the example of holy men and women throughout history.  He feeds us through the Mass; the readings from scripture and the sermons from our pastors and priests.  He nourishes us with the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

   Food for the body and food for the soul.  Both are necessary to the life we are intended to live.  Good food for our bodies will help us stay healthy.  Proper nourishment of our souls gives us what is needed to know eternal happiness with God.

   “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”  (John 6: 51)