CHRISTMAS 2010

THE HUNGRY GOD

CHRISTMAS 2010

Are you hungry? Yes, our body has a rhythm of hunger and satisfaction and a while after we have eaten our fill, we will feel hungry once again.

Are you hungry? It is all right to be hungry. Hunger is a built-in human dynamism that reminds us we need something important for our survival. We work, we spend effort, and thus we need to recover lost energy.

This Christmas, there are lots of food on the table, even for the simplest among us, we try to prepare something extra, or even to cross to the other house to join their simple feast. And yet, though people eat often at parties and gatherings, after some time, anger begins to set in.

Does God get hungry? How can he get hungry? God is perfectly powerful and he is eternally satisfied with himself in heaven. Yes he works harder than all of us in keeping this world in order, but his work is not physical but spiritual. Many times, we think that God does not feel hunger.

Before Christmas, I reached a conclusion: God is hungry! And the proof of this is Christmas itself. A short quotation I am borrowing and paraphrasing says it best: what is celebrated today is not primarily a birthday, but the history of God’s hunger for human companions.

The hunger of God is not about food. It is deeper than that. God sent his Only Son to us because he is hungry for you, for me, for all of us, for our friendship and for our love!

How else can you explain the mysterious journey from heaven to earth, from spirit to flesh, from omnipotence to weakness that now we see in the birth of Jesus? God is entering a new adventure himself as he plows into the human environment in search of love. Love seeking for love; heart speaking to heart.

Isn’t it a coincidence that both God and human beings feel hunger.

We feel the hunger of our bodies: the poor hunger for food; the sick hunger for healing; the jobless hunger for an opportunity; all of us hunger for the dignity of our bodies and the dignity of our human situations.

We feel the hunger of our hearts: how many of us here do not need to feel loved? We pray for reconciliation in our families; we long for a repair of relationships; we hope that this Christmas, we will find the understanding and care of those people we love most. We are mostly smiling on Christmas day, but our hearts are hungry for love.

We experience the hunger of our souls: our quest is for peace of mind; our prayer is that we will have strength and confidence to face our troubles and challenges; we want to change and be transformed from our addictions, bad habits, dark secrets and many sins. If only our souls can be at rest, truly at rest.

We are hungry and God is hungry. But today, it’s not just the companionship of two hungry persons – God and the human being.

God is hungry but he does not need anything really. He is hungry and he is desirous of joining us, helping us, alleviating us from our own hungers.

We are hungry and we need to eat.

God is hungry and he needs to give.

This baby born in the manger was destined to sustain the needs of his hungry people, his disciples. Hungry for a place to stay, hungry for protection from Herod, he would soon feel 4,000 people and another crowd of 5,000. His last words would include giving his Body and Blood to give us all life.

In what part of your life are you hungry the most? Lift that up to Jesus, Son of God made man for us tonight. He is here to satisfy the deepest longing of our bodies, hearts and souls. He is here to manifest the greatest love the world has ever known.

A hungry God gives us salvation, freedom and peace. A hungry God is a God of love for all humanity.

Merry Christmas to you all!