"My Food is to Do the Will of Him who sent me, and to accomplish His work."

I love to eat.  Or, more specifically, I love to eat good, delicious food.  I grew-up and lived on Long Island in New York until I was almost 26 years old.  I consider New York to be one of the finest places to grow-up if you love to eat.  The pizza, bagels, deli, Chinese food and diner breakfast food are just a few examples of the many excellent eats that you can find in New York.  I also have a great love and attatchment to hot, delicious cups of tea throughout the day and I am addicted to pretzels.

Lisa, whom I think of as our Team Leader, has been to Kenya with Father William on two previous occasions.  I have picked her brain with regard to all of the little travel things that we will encounter, but I have especially asked her about the FOOD.  If I am hungry and without necessary nourishment or in need of a hot cup of tea,  I can get pretty cranky and I am just not a lot of fun to be around - just ask my husband, Ray.  He can tell you all about it!  I really do not want to be a bother to anyone on this trip.  I do not like being around people that tend to complain or whine about every little thing.  So, I am a trifle preoccupied with wondering how I am going to keep myself from grumbling when I am feeling that I am in great need of some nourishment.

I was reading the story of the Samaritan Woman in the Gospel of John the other day. Chapter 4 opens up with Jesus traveling through Samaria. It is about noon and Jesus, tired and hungry from his work and travels, sits down next to a well. His disciples leave Jesus there to go and find food from the town. While Jesus is sitting there, a Samritan woman comes up to the well with her jug to draw water.

When Jesus asks her for water, she is astonished because he is a Jew and she is a Samaritan.  Jesus explains:   "...If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'give me a drink', you would have asked him and he would have given you living water". The woman, not understanding what Jesus is telling her, responds: "Sir, you don't even have a bucket and the cistern is deep: where then can you get this living water?"

 Jesus responds:  "Every one who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  The Samaritan woman is enthusiastically desirous of what Jesus offers: "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst nor come here to draw."

Jesus then asks the woman to call her husband. She states openly that she does not have a husband.  Jesus, who knows her heart, agrees with her that indeed, the man that she is presently with is not her husband and that she has had 5 husbands before this man.  The woman, again astonished, says that she perceives that he is a prophet.  The discourse between them continues as Jesus speaks of salvation for all men:  "...You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know for salvation is from the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who whorship him must worship in spirit and truth."  The woman tells Jesus and that she knows that "...the Messiah is coming; when He comes, He will show us all things."  Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."

The disciples return from town just at this point in the Gospel with food for Jesus to eat.  They see that Jesus is speaking with this woman and they are surprised at this but say nothing.   Then, the woman leaves her water jug at the well and goes to the town to tell every one about Jesus.

 The disciples urge Jesus to eat but He says in reply: "I have food to eat which you do not know...My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to accomplish His work."

This is one of my favorite gospel passages.  Jesus' humanity is so clearly seen in his hunger and weariness; His divine nature is shown when he tells the woman straight-out about her having 5 husbands.  Jesus knew her explicitly - her heart, her works, and her sins and yet, He was the one to reach out and offer to her His Living Water.

When the disciples finally come with the food, Jesus does not want it until He is finished his conversation and work with the woman.

His work nourishes Him in a way that the food does not...and so it is and will be with us!

In the end, the woman leaves her water jug at the well so that she can run into the town to tell her friends about Jesus.  She is converted; she has received the living water and had no further need of her jug for nourishment.

The passage concludes:  "Many Samaritans from that city believed in Him because of that woman's testimony..."and so it is and will be with us!

The fulfillment of doing for othes nourishes us spiritually in a way that surpasses any physical needs that we may have.   I am very blessed to be a communion minister.  I am grateful to be able to distribute Jesus' Precious Body or  Jesus' Precious Blood during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I am also thankful  to be able to bring communion to those that are unable to come to mass due to age or illness...it is truly a gift for me which words can not express.    God is amazing and I am grateful to see His words reflected in my heart when I am able to do His work:  "...I have food to eat which you do not know."

I know that when we arrive in Kenya I will not have my creature comforts around me - especially the food that I will want!  I will try to remember this passage, this post, and this reflection so that instead of becoming cranky or irritable, I will make a very small sacrifice on behalf of Jesus and what He has asked us to do...Let the Work Be His!   I hope and pray that I may be so spiritually nourished that I will not miss the food or the tea...for it is my greatest desire to "Do the Will of Him who sent me, and to accomplish His work."

As an aside, one of our favorite family movies at Christmas is Scrooged.  In the last scene, Bill Murray gives a speech in which he passionately expresses, in true Bill Murray fashion, how spiritually nourished he is when he gives more to others then he gives to himself.  If you click on the link below, you can hear and see his speech:

http://youtu.be/3kX6rf9uw7w


Thank you for your continued prayers and support as we work together to bring His Hands and His Feet and His Heart to all we meet.