If you came today to a startling awareness of the goodness and generosity of God towards the world, how would you share it with others?

Here Jesus uses the simplest of images to help us understand: he talks of bread. In Jesus’ day, when diets were simple, bread kept people alive; it satisfied their hunger and gave them strength to keep going. Here Jesus is saying that he is ‘the bread of life’ for them: by accepting his friendship they will be nourished, fed, strengthened, and become more alive.

We need to look at all food as sacred! We need to re-educate ourselves and think of every food as a sacred gift from God and something that we consume with great respect. Did you know that Americans throw away nearly half of their food every year. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council Report of 2013: Americans discarded 46 percent of the food supply in 2012. We wasted roughly $165 billion worth of food.

We need to recognize that all food is sacred! All food is holy!! All food is a precious gift!!! When we eat, whether it be at church or at home or in a restaurant, God is with us! And whether you pray before the meal to be reminded of that fact—or not—fact still is that the presence of God is permeating both the food and your fellowship. Holy Food is not confined to church. It is in your refrigerator, waiting to be honored, waiting to be shared, waiting to sustain you. And in all of it is the one who said, “I am the Bread of Life.”

The lesson from Today’s Gospel is to honor the goods and yes, materials, of this world and to treat them with a sense of spiritual awe. If, and when, we do that, our entire planet will be blessed.