Famished

Second Grade--sacrament preparation time for Catholics. Thomas had an interview yesterday with the director of formation at our church. You can just imagine how comfortable this was for him. Seven years old, slumping and sinking into his chair, sitting across from a "let's get down to business" personality.


As soon as he graduated from nodding his answers to actually using sentence fragments, and realized that with each correct answer he gained a bit more confidence, he sat up in his chair, and began using a bigger voice. Blessed Trinity? Check. Favorite Bible story? Check. Reconciliation? Check.


"Thomas, tell me something you know about Jesus."


"He's magical."


"Tell me how he's magical."


"He made the blind man see and he walked on water."


Whew. For a second there I thought we might have a Harry Potter reference. But we didn't. Check.


Then came the doozy. Was he ready? Was I? "Thomas, you'll be making your First Communion this year. What are you most excited about?"


"Well....I'm always starving at church!"


Insert one nervous giggle and 4 red splotches on my neck. My friend Valerie always says, "There are two kinds of people in this world...those that are humbled, and those that are about to be." My immediate thought was, "Holy moly, son, the Body of Christ is not a snack!" The formation director didn't miss a beat, though, and got back on track by describing different types of hunger and how we are fulfilled. I could see his little brain mulling that over.


And you know? He makes a good point. Aren't we all starving for Christ in our lives? In Matthew 5:6 Jesus says: Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Thomas, we do come, starving, to the table of the Lord, and only He can fill us. Sometimes clarity can come from a child's simple, honest answer. In our bible study, we've just studied that the Lord has created a God-shaped void in our lives, and nothing but Him will truly satiate our hungry hearts.


With that, I leave you with one of my favorite verses. John 6:51: I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."