Sorry For What I Said When I Was Hungry

Have you seen the Snickers commercials where an overly hungry person is acting like atyrannical maniac? My favorite is the one when a bunch of guys are playing football and one gets hungry and isn’t himself—he’s Betty White. He has a Snickers and is restored to himself. There are several variations on a meme going around the Facebookasphere that says “Sorry for what I said when I was hungry.” I can say for myself that, when I’m fasting or didn’t remember to eat, I can be a bear! We really can get out of sorts when we haven’t had the nourishment that we need.

We celebrate the gift of Eucharist every time we have Mass, but we need to periodically to bring attention to what we might allow to become commonplace or mundane (as the Church does on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ). Because we are so blessed with access to the Eucharist pretty much whenever we want it, we have the potential to forget what it is that we are receiving.

We go through our week with all the difficulties and worries of life wearing us down; depleting our energy, occupying our time, distracting us from taking care of ourselves—and all of this may be with perfect joy in our work (I know I love mine!)—but it takes a toll. We need rest. We need refreshment. We need nourishment. And boy, can we get cranky when we’re hungry!

God gives us Godself to nourish us. We are invited to rest in Christ, to be fed on the Word of God and on the Eucharist. We are offered the comfort and support of our community of faith. We are given what we need to get off the bench and get back out in the game—we are made whole again and invited to be more truly ourselves. So, instead of finding ourselves apologizing for what we say/do when we’re hungry, we can allow God to fill us so we can be at our best.