If You Feed Them They Will Come!

For the past 8 years or there about, I have had the pleasure of working with a multitude of different youth groups and youth ministers, and one of the many things that all of them had in common was food. In the last post I talked about food bring together my Friday night family, but food is something that has always brought people together, with out discrimination. So of course it applies to the youth as well, If you feed them, they will come! 

If you have a youth space with a fridge stocked with various pop and juices (for those weird teens who aren't addicted to pop) and a cupboard or table near by dedicated to their favorite snacks you better believe you will have some students who come just for those perks, which is ok, because they may come for that, but they stay for something more... 

When my sister was a student at MSU, there was a church near by that had a spaghetti dinner after mass Sunday nights for the students since the Cafes weren't open. Sure the only reason some of those students went to mass was for the free meal after, but I will wager dollars to donuts that they walked away with more than just a spaghetti dinner. 

Food is a powerful thing, it brings us together, in the happiest of times we celebrate with it, in the saddest of times, we mourn together with food. I always joke, I am an emotional eater (which is 100% true) I eat when I'm sad, and I eat when I'm happy, no matter what I'm feeling there is a food that can go along with it! We have our favorites, and our least favorites, and we have those meals that remind us of a childhood long ago. From rosemary chicken thats just Oh so special, to a family recipe past down through the generations. If you feed them they will come. Perhaps one of the most common phrases about food, and I would argue one of the truest. 

Youth ministers have seen the truth in this statement as well as church leaders, and of course God, and Jesus also saw the importance in this ideal of feeding people. 

Fun facts about the selection of readings for mass. As many of you have probably noticed over the years, there is a rhyme and reason to the readings each Sunday. As I mentioned in the last post, there is a three year cycle, Years A, B, and C (how clever I know, but sometimes simplest is best). In addition to the gospels being selected and used based on this three year cycle, the first and second reading are also selected in a "unique" fashion. The first reading, almost always from the Old testament has a connection to the gospel, the second reading often a letter from Paul, simply follows the pattern of what came before. It does not necessarily have a connection to the first reading or gospel, however I think a connection can often be found if intended or not. 

In the first reading we see the wandering and grumbling people of God recently saved from Egypt (Exodus 16: 2-4, 12-15) complaining about not having food. We also see God's response "I Have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God." If you feed them, they will come. 

Next up would be the second reading, however I am going to skip that to the gospel since that is where we see a continued connection to feeding, and specifically bread! John 6:24-35, depicts a mass of people following and more over searching for Jesus "When they found him across the sea they said to him, Rabbi, when did you get here? Jesus answered them and said, Amen, amen I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled." Jesus in typical teacher, and Jesus form answers a question here as he often without answering the question at hand but offering something of more importance. A quick cheat, from a readers guide to the bible, when ever Jesus says Amen, amen I say to you, he is really say hey pay attention this is important!

In this instance we not only see, feed them and they will come, but also feed them, and they will follow you. After all if you give a mouse a muffin... 

May we keep feeding each other, may we continue to be able to gather together and share in meals, may we continue to break bread together. 

Peace and Blessings Always 

~M