Mother Teresa wrote in her book In the Heart of the World: “Hungry for love, He looks at you. Thirsty for kindness, He begs of you. Naked for loyalty, He hopes in you. Homeless for shelter in your heart, He asks of you. Will you be that one to Him?”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus identifies himself with the one who is hungry or thirsty, the stranger and the naked, the sick and the one in prison. The righteous act – without knowing that it is Jesus they are serving.
Mother Teresa connects Jesus’ words to our daily lives. She adds that hunger and thirst don’t necessarily have to do with food and drinks to sustain our bodies but it can also refer to being sustained spiritually: “hungry for love”, “thirsty for kindness”. She also reminds us to be aware that “He looks at you”, “He begs of you”.
The Eucharist is spiritual food. When we are celebrating Mass, we are fed from the Word of the Lord and the Table of the Lord.
We are not filling our stomachs but rather we are feeding our hearts and souls.
Here, in Aotearoa New Zealand, we are blessed that we can receive Holy Communion during this time of the pandemic. However, we need to remember our Sisters and Brothers in Christ who are not as fortunate as we are. They are only able to receive Spiritual Communion.
Let us work towards righteousness. May we have open ears and open eyes to hear and see when we are asked to be kind and give hope to others.