Operibus infructuosis (Eph. 5:11)

When we are asked about the direction of our life motivation, there will be the same nuance of the answer that tells about satisfaction gained from our life. Then, we will bring it in our prayer. When we are awake in the morning, we will get ready to pray and to prepare things for our activities for the same direction that is to fulfill our satisfaction.

Since the falling of Adam and Eve in sin in the Garden of Eden, God keeps guarding and loving us as His 'holy creation'. God was keeping away men from the life tree by placing a flaming sword (Genesis 3 : 24). God keeps protecting Cain after punishing him. In the end, we have Christ, our savior. From here, we can recognize the human nature that we can do right and wrong, and there is always a punishment to teach us and to bring us in the right salvation path. Our God is great, we are guaranteed by His grace for our eternal salvation. From the first in the garden of Eden, God has shown his holy warn to prevent men to experience suffering, to let men experience 'holy satisfaction', the most perfect one.

God's work of salvation and our perfect satisfaction still exist. He even lets us sense and experience His Kingdom on earth. When we keep doing His commands and His teaching, we are gonna experience perfect satisfaction. Having the material or worldliness satisfaction will not guarantee us to have the perfect one. Having a big house even the most comfortable one, it doesn't guarantee us to have a happy, peaceful, and joyful life.

Holy satisfaction can be only attained by having meaningful works. No one can claim us wrong if we do His command and teaching; walking in the light in His path. That's the blessing, that's the amazing grace that we can sense on the earth. God will surely bless and protect us while doing these fruitful works. Amen. God bless us all!

By Ceisy Nita Wuntu.

Venite ad aquas (Is. 55:1)

Since November I have started studying the Book of Changes, also known as the I Ching. I have read a lot of articles and watched a lot of YouTube videos that discuss it. What is it all about? The I Ching or Yi Jing, usually translated as the book of changes or the classic of changes, is an ancient Chinese divination text. And in our world today, many people use it to predict what to expect in their various undertakings or enterprises. Some even use it confusedly to read the future, which leads them to astrology and many forms of spiritual activity and New Age religions. Yes, it is true that physical hunger is a very real fact of life, especially in poor countries, but spiritual hunger is just as real. As a result of my study, I will say that there are millions of people who are spiritually malnourished. Many of the symptoms of spiritual hunger can be seen here in Europe and around the world. Today we see spiritually hungry people looking for food of their soul outside the church. They are looking for solutions to their problems in astrology and geomancy. This leads them to believe that the position of the stars has something to do with their daily life. And so, the media, in many newspapers, feed them with a daily horoscope. This is an indication that people are looking for something transcendent; they are looking for guidance from a force that goes beyond themself. That is why many Europeans and Americans practice transcendental meditation through exotic yoga or other unknown practices. This indicates our human need for interacting with God. We need a rich and solid spiritual food that comes from our God. And the Church comes to us and points where this spiritual food is found. 

That is why today’s gospel tells us that more than 5,000 people have been fed to their fullest satisfaction: “They all ate as much as they wanted.” That sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? But it is Jesus Himself who opens his hand wide. And so, like the psalmist, I will say: “You open wide your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” (Psalm 145: 16). This is why I ask myself: why are we still going somewhere else for spiritual nourishment? Meanwhile, we meet someone who has the power to give us food, anything we want. And no money needed. As the Lord invites us in the first reading: “Come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk!” (Isaiah 55). Hence, each soul that loves wholeheartedly is fed with God’s own flesh and blood in the form of bread and wine on this holy table. So, it is left to us to believe and trust that our Lord Jesus Christ is absolute that we can rely on unconditionally. If God cannot feed us to our satisfaction, it will most likely depend on us. We are reminded today that as Christians we do the best if we live out of our lives in fullness in Christ and not for our egos and wants. We must, therefore, learn to surrender ourselves to Christ even when darkness seems to override our dreams of doing God’s will. God is always there for us no matter what happens, no matter what our life situations are. The reality is that when we are in pain, grief, distress, and feel abandoned, we recognize our need for God more clearly. These are the moments when the grace of God can work through us to help other people and to satisfy the hunger of the heart and mind. They may not be spectacular miracles, but these are the things we can do to give meaning to our lives. Even then, Jesus, who is God, took the time to go alone to an abandoned place. He knew that he had to get rid of all the insults, false accusations, imagination, and fear. Before we taste the fullness that God gave us through Christ, we are invited to go to our abandoned place. We are invited to come to a place of hunger. We are called at a time of separation so that we can focus on who and what we have. And so, we ask ourselves: What are my needs, my hunger?

God wants us to eat to our satisfaction, then He can send us to feed others. Because a hungry person cannot feed another hungry person, just as a blind person cannot lead another. So, we must take and eat the food that God gives us every day. And after that, we can go out and take care of the hungry crowd. Let us, therefore, let Jesus fill us with his eternal food. Let us allow Him to fill us with love and kindness. Let us give him the chance to feed everything we need.

By Fr. Ouwakpare Victorin Oussoi, SVD.