What are you Hungry For?
By Steve Martin
Most of us have experienced the feeling of an empty stomach more than once in our lives. Maybe we had one of those crazy days rushing through one task to another so quickly we did not have time to stop and eat. Most of us can also remember the feeling of a parched throat and dry tongue when no drink was available to satisfy our thirst. Being hungry and thirsty is definitely an experience many people can relate to.
Think about the words of Jesus, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”1 He is God. God knows how many of us have experienced hunger and thirst. He wants our hunger and thirst to be satisfied. Even more, in this Beatitude, we hear a promise of satisfaction.
If we truly hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God, we will be satisfied. How many of us actually desire to be filled with the righteousness of God? Do we act on that desire? Do we want this more than anything else?
Do we pray for the Holy Spirit to guide our choices every day, or do we rush ahead of God and forget all about asking what He wants us to do? Do we spend time studying God as He revealed himself through his Church? How much time are we reading our bibles and studying the Catechism of the Catholic Church? What do we know about the writings of the saints, the Church Fathers and the Doctors of the Church?
The Navarre Bible notes that, “righteousness, in the language of the Bible, is the same as what nowadays is usually called `holiness’.”2 It then points to St. Jerome’s Commentary on Matthew, 5, 6. In his commentary St. Jerome stated that in the fourth Beatitude, our Lord is asking us not to simply have a vague desire for righteousness. Here Jesus is pointing out that we should strive with much effort to seek what makes a man righteous in God’s eyes.
We have the Church, the universal means of salvation. She offers us everything we need to become holy. There is no reason to be intimidated into believing we can’t be holy as God calls us to be.
If we make regular use of the sacraments and wholeheartedly seek an intimate relationship with God through prayer, if we make every effort to live up to one’s social, professional, and family responsibilities… our desire for holiness will be satisfied.
What are you hungry for? What are you thirsty for? Let’s take these words of our Lord to heart and follow His guidance. Let’s recognize that we are created for union with God.
We need to fill our emptiness with divine grace and become the saints we are called to be. We need to recognize our spiritual hunger and thirst for righteousness. May God send the Holy Spirit into our hungry and thirsty souls so we can be satisfied.
1Gospel of Matthew 5:6
2The Navarre Bible, pg. 49