Lesson from Fr. Paulus | Lesson: The Bread of Life Is Truth, Not Stuff

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if we only memorized one verse from the Bible, I would recommend the one we just heard: "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God."

If we happened to live 1000 years ago, I would probably recommend a different verse. But we live now. And right now, the biggest obstacle to our happiness and holiness is our culture's commercialist mentality.

The commercialist mentality says that all our problems can be solved by stuff, by bread. The commercialist mentality is the attitude encouraged by the commercials, advertisements, and billboards that we run into a hundred times a day, every day. The commercialist mentality says that if we have the right bank account, the right house, the right vacation spot, the right outfits, the right software, and the right job, everything will be all right.

All of these material things, all these loaves of bread, are good. They are part of this wonderful creation that God has generously given to us. But they are not enough. They are necessary, but insufficient. They cannot solve our most important problems.

Because the human soul is much greater than a machine. We need something much greater than fuel and axel grease to make our lives run smoothly. We need truth. We need to know and follow the truth about who we are and what we were created for. We need to drink in the truth that we are loved by God, personally, and that we are called to love him in return, with all the power and creativity of our being.

The deepest part of our soul is hungering not for bread, but for the Word of God, Jesus Christ, who is himself incarnate Truth and Love.

Story of An Expensive Orphanage

Imagine a family in which the mom and dad both have very successful careers. They make plenty of money and are quickly climbing to the top of their professions.

They can afford to give their children all the best things: a beautiful house with a huge property; the most prestigious schools; personal coaches for each child's favourite hobbies and sports; a full-time grounds keeper and a full-time housekeeper.

But because the parents' professions are very competitive, both mom and dad have to work extremely long hours. So they never see their children - not even on weekends, not even on vacation.

On the material side, those children would have everything. Yet, they wouldn't have the most important thing: a living relationship with their parents. For all practical purposes, they would be living in an expensive orphanage.

Those children will not be happy or healthy. They will not grow up to be well-balanced, self-confident, and capable of communicating with others, loving others, and making meaningful commitments. That's what today's culture is like. It's so focused on money and the pleasures money can buy, that it has tried to cut us off from our Father, from God.

But we cannot live on bread alone. Our minds, hearts, and souls also need to feed on God's Word - the Word of his love and truth, the Word that is Christ, present in the Eucharist. If that same family made less money (even a lot less), but was full of real, open, dynamic relationships, those kids would have a much better chance at a meaningful life.

Just so, our relationship with God, our friendship with Christ - this is what gives meaning to everything else. It lasts forever, unlike even the most expensive loaves of bread.

Renewing Our Commitment to Christ

Lent is a time when the Church invites us to pay special attention to God's Word, to the truth that Christ came to reveal to us - so that we don't forget what's most important.

There are many ways to do this. It could be as simple as spending fifteen minutes a day reading and reflecting on the Scriptures. It could mean taking more time to turn off the noise all around us and read, calmly and reflectively, a good spiritual book or a biography of Jesus Christ.

It could mean taking one of the weekends during Lent to go on a retreat - to go somewhere away from our normal surroundings and rediscover God's forgiveness and wisdom. It could mean finally following through on the commitment made long ago to really take time to study the catechism - that hidden treasure house of Catholic doctrine and wisdom that we pay much too little attention to.

Today Jesus will renew his commitment to us by coming once again, body, blood, soul and divinity, in the sacrifice of this Mass, and by offering himself to us as the true bread from heaven in Holy Communion.

When he does, let's renew our commitment to him. Let's not leave this church today until we have decided how we can best respond during this Lent to whatever inspiration God has placed in our hearts.

Jesus doesn't want this Lent to be "just another Lent." He has something he wants to do for each one of us, something that will help us grow in our knowledge of the truth and in our ability to live accordingly. Let's give him the chance.