A Sumptuous Meal During Lent, by Hans Boersma

By Hans Boersma, First Things, 3 . 14 . 24

Hans Boersma is the Saint Benedict Servants of Christ Professor in Ascetical Theology at Nashotah House Theological Seminary.

Lent reminds us that food counts in our lives. We are hardly spiritual giants: Abstaining from our favorite foods; cutting out meat on Wednesdays and Fridays; skipping entire meals, perhaps—we find such fasting a difficult challenge. Few desires are as strong as the craving for food.

John 6 may seem to rub salt in the wounds—Jesus feeding the five thousand. Do we really need to hear this story of Jesus filling the crowds to the gills when our stomachs protest with hunger?

A large crowd is coming to Jesus. “Philip,” says Jesus, “whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Philip knows they don’t have the money to fill all of these hungry people. Andrew comes to his defense: “There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?” Philip and Andrew are realists. They both know these people will be fasting tonight. …

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