Hungry for God: Biblical Reflections on FoodMuestra

Food is One Body: 1 Cor. 11:20-34

Have you ever had toothache? My husband, Greg, did once and boy did I know it! It made him feel like his whole body was in pain. I still remember him pacing round and round the sitting room, unable to sit and rest.

We learn from the Eucharist that 'we were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body' (1 Cor 12:13). We are not isolated beings, existing on our own, but interconnected: part of the worldwide body of creation; the body of humans made in God’s image, and the body of Christ, the Church. And as we share in one body, so we share in each other’s pain and happiness. There are many beautiful and joyful things in our world today. But there is also much suffering and, because the Eucharist draws us into the world-wide body, we care, and it is right that we do. We should be moved. We should be upset by the injustices of our food system, and we should be angry. And, like a body with toothache that can’t rest or sit down whilst there’s pain, so should we be.

There is a sober note of judgement that we must not lose when we take communion. Remember that the meal Paul is describing here is causing problems, with the rich stuffing their faces and those who are poor having to work and so, arriving at the meal late they find the food all gone and go hungry. Cavanaugh says that, ‘those of us who partake in the Eucharist while ignoring the hungry may be eating and drinking our own damnation’ (footnote: William Cavanaugh, Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire (Eerdmans, 2008), 98). Whenever we eat and drink – and especially when we do so in remembrance of Jesus – let us recognise our need for repentance, for where we all play our part in the global situation that we have today.

Prayer: Lord Jesus as I remember you so I commit myself to the rest of your body and to working to see your shalom brought to all its parts.