March 9: The Day of The Lord “One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth f

“One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.” Luke 4, 1-13

Lent has arrived again to remind us that our deepest needs are not met by physical food and drink, or by accomplishing our own will, or by creating our own path to (supposed) happiness. Human beings need more and yearn for more – including spiritual nutrition and nurturing. Lent reminds us in various ways that, in order to help save ourselves and other people from hunger and misery, we need to listen to God, who awakens in our conscience a hunger for justice and solidarity.

Perhaps our great temptation today, especially in what we call “the first world,” is to “change things into bread,” to reduce our desires to what is tangible and consumable. As we see so clearly, indiscriminate consumerism is all around us, but it is hardly the way to make progress and to be free. A consumerist society ultimately leads to emptiness and discontent. Why else would we be barricading ourselves in gated communities? Why else would we be building walls and barriers? Why else would we be trying to stop hungry or displaced people from sharing our prosperity or disturbing our peace?

Jesus wants us to be aware that human beings do not live on “bread alone.” We also need to nurture the spirit, we need to know love and friendship, we need to develop solidarity with those who suffer, we need to listen to our conscience, and we need to be open to the kind of sharing which joins us with God. All of these things can lead us through the Lenten desert – if we let them.