Bread, cup, hope...

 "Make us bread for all who are hungry

And a cup for people who thirst,

Make us hope for those on a journey,

Where the last one shall be the first."

Fr. Caleb Vogel, "Panem Tuum"

 

We sang this at our friend, Keener's, funeral last weekend and, as we did, I saw how clearly Keener personified the words.  Keener was "bread for all who are hungry" through his work at the Soup Kitchen.  I giggled when I realized that his "cup for people who thirst" was his consummate hospitality--you are never without a drink in the K's home!  And Keener's "hope for those on a journey" was his work with Hospice of Eastern Idaho.  Keener gave hope to many as he journeyed with them their final weeks and months.  This song could have been written as a tribute to Keener, surely. But, I see it as also a beckoning to us.  We are called to be bread for the hungry, a cup for the thirsty and  hope for those we meet each day. In today's Gospel (Mark 6:34-44) Jesus feeds the five thousand--gives bread for the hungry.  How are we called in our lives, today, to love the same way?  Each person we meet today--family, friend or stranger--needs us in some way.  How can we love them well? Love, heidi