“I am the bread of life … whoever eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:35)
When we were on Lanai recently for eucharistic ministry, the weekend Gospel contained the passage about Jesus being “the Bread of Life.” We are blessed to believe in a God who left us his presence in food — the Bread of Life. Our faith is rooted in food, a basic essential of life.
On Saturday, we visited the farmers’ market near Sacred Heart Church in Lanai City to buy ono peppers grown by Auntie Espiritu. We later talked story with three other parish kupuna — Auntie Susan, Auntie Patsy and Auntie Letty. All in their 70s or 80s, they have worked in the parish food pantry for more than 20 years.
We also visited a pig farm a few blocks away run by a young couple. The farm provides nutritious protein to the local menus of the island’s Hawaiians, Filipinos, Tongans, Micronesians and others. In raising the pigs, the couple recycles surplus food from the island’s hotels and restaurants.
On Sunday, after Mass, young and old brought the Bread of Life in the Eucharist to the island’s homebound residents.
As one of the first acts in his papacy, Pope Francis launched the worldwide campaign “One Family: Food for All.” We are helping to host throughout Hawaii the workshops “One Ohana: Food and Housing for All.” A favorite workshop activity is asking folks to think of a favorite vegetable or fruit they identify with. Some say taro, others banana, ulu, or malunggay. All have stories about their choice. A favorite food can say plenty about who we are and what we value.
In the diocesan video series on the sacraments, Bishop Larry Silva tells us the Eucharist is the signature sacrament of our faith. He tells us of Jesus’ promise: “Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” But the Bread of Life not only nourishes us, it makes us hungry to be bread ourselves, broken, nourishing others, especially the most vulnerable.
In the Eucharist, we gather to worship, to be nourished, to be sent to serve. All of us are eucharistic ministers, providing nourishment in our families and community through the food of forgiveness and compassion. We can do this through parish pantries serving homegrown produce or pork from a neighborhood farm; through caring, collaborative stewardship of the aina which nourishes all.
We encourage you to be nourishing bread, broken when we volunteer for church and community efforts that feed the hungry. There are plenty of opportunities to do this. On Oahu, for example, the Institute for Human Services needs help feeding and housing homeless families from Kakaako. Call Renee at IHS, 447-2810.
We come to the Eucharist in need of nourishment, all of us sinners in need of the healing that can make us whole. We celebrate a faith that believes in God who left us his presence in food, the Bread of Life and which makes us hungry to serve others.
Thanks be to God.
Mahalo.
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
