Our true hunger and genuine fulfillment

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

IN the gospel, Christ tells us about what is involved if we want to truly love him. “If you love me,” he said, “keep my commandments.” And he makes this promise: “And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you forever.” (Jn 14,15-16)

He further explained why the Paraclete or the spirit of truth is needed. “The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, nor knows him; but you shall know him because he shall abide with you, and shall be in you,” he said. (Jn14,17)

The question to ask is, how can we manage to comply with the condition of keeping his commandments to be able to love him, and in so doing, be guided by the spirit of truth in this very complicated and confusing world?

Given how demanding Christ’s teachings are, we would likely struggle to live up to them. Yes, Christ’s commands and the high standard of Christ’s teachings are so rigorous that we would be in a tough spot trying to keep them.

I believe the secret is found in what Christ himself had recommended. That is, that we do some fasting that would induce a special kind of hunger that is not only a hunger for natural food but rather a hunger for the ultimate spiritual and supernatural food that is God himself.

Said another way, it should be a natural hunger that should lead us to this spiritual and supernatural hunger, a hunger for God. We need to train our natural hunger to have the greatest longing for God.

In other words, it should be God whom we regard as the true satisfaction of our hunger. It is he who should give us the greatest joy and pleasure. We should not get stuck in the natural level of satisfaction, joy and pleasure only, the effect only of food and other natural things. But our craving for God, while eminently spiritual and supernatural, should first of all be felt in our body.

This way we can manage to keep the commandments of Christ no matter how tough, rigorous and challenging they are. And by keeping the commandments, we would feel the presence of the Paraclete, the spirit of truth, as promised by Christ, who will guide us and give us the proper direction in our life, marked as it is with chaotic conditions.

With this spirit of truth, we would not be trapped in our temporal world only, playing the game of self-indulgence and simply pursuing self-interest, unmindful of the spiritual, supernatural and eternal destination meant for us.

We would know how to relate our temporal affairs to our ultimate goal. We would know how to give the proper priority to all the elements in this life, and how to be firmly guarded against distractions.

We really should make this serious business of developing this true hunger a top priority among the things that we need to learn. We cannot take this duty lightly. We have to learn to live in the natural and temporal world while pursuing our supernatural and eternal goal.

As St. Paul once said: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Col 3,2) He was practically telling us that we should prioritize heaven, eternal values over temporary worldly pursuits. He was asking us for a shift in perspective to align our thoughts, actions and desires with the teachings and example Christ who shows us the way to heaven.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com