Sunday, June 27, 2010

Needing and Receiving

Open wide thy mouth, and I will fill it (Ps. 81:10).

Your word came to me, and I ate it (        ).

What if we thought of prayer as receiving "our daily bread," our necessary nourishment, from God, Who "opens His hand and satisfies the hunger of every living thing"? 

If we come to Him hungry, will we not leave satisfied?  If we yearn for His nourishment, will He not fill us to capacity?  Would a mother refuse her overflowing breast to her infant?  Her need to give, to satisfy the infant, is as great as the the infant's need to receive.  And God's need to give is even greater than our (perceived) need to receive.  He knows what we need; He knows when we need.  And He is the good mother, the wise servant who provides what is needed when it is needed. 

During Jesus' earthly ministry, the only ones who went away unsatisfied were the teachers of the law, the Pharisees, who "needed" nothing from Him.  They needed Him to stop giving so freely when they themselves gave so sparingly.  We cannot hoard the things of God---they must be liberally given to all who want to receive.

1 comment:

  1. Now, that's a concept I hadn't considered, "eating the word of God." This may truly be the Eucharist.

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