I don’t keep much food in my refrigerator or the cupboard. I live alone. I eat a lot of meals on the job. I try to buy just as much as I’m going to eat. If you came over, opened the cupboards, and saw how empty they are, you’d probably ask, “What do you eat?” It’s like kids who come home from school and open the refrigerator. It may be filled to the walls with enough food and drinks to take care of a family of 8 for a month, but someone will complain, “There’s nothing here to eat.”

Even if there is plenty of food, we get hungry for specific things. Sometimes you’re hungry for chicken, but the refrigerator has ham. Our specific hungers can make us blind. When people say, “There’s nothing here to eat,” they probably mean, “I can’t find here the specific thing I’m hungry for.”

Well, sometimes we hunger for things we should not have. Our appetites for food, drink, sex and possessions all need to be managed. One way our Church helps is to remind us that we have a deeper hunger, a hunger for God. If we satisfy that, our other appetites will fall in line.

Jesus knew what he was doing when he gave us his body and blood under the forms of food and drink. It’s easy for us to make the connection between our physical hunger for a meal and our spiritual hunger for God.

This is foreshadowed in the miracle of the loaves. With five loaves and two fish, Jesus took them, blessed them, broke them and gave them to the disciples to distribute. He performed the same actions he used later at the Last Supper. After everyone got stuffed, the fragments left over filled 12 baskets. It didn’t take much food to satisfy a large crowd. Jesus did more than fill their stomachs. He filled their spirit.

At every mass you’ve ever attended the priest took, blessed, broke and gave the eucharist. He doesn’t give much, but it satisfies our hunger.

Just a few reminders when coming to communion: When the minister says, “The body of Christ,” answer “Amen” in a strong voice. If you take communion in the hand, receive it with an open hand like a beggar, do not grab at it with your fingers. And drink from the cup. Communion under both forms is a more complete sign of the sacrifice of Christ and the banquet of life. If you do not drink from the cup, today makes a great day to begin. This is the solemnity of the most holy body and blood of Christ.

Before receiving communion, we are supposed to fast one hour. Officially, it’s one hour before receiving communion, not one hour before the start of mass. Since it’s nearly an hour between the time you leave home and the time you receive communion, it isn’t asking much. Still, it’s a good idea to come to church hungry, but hungry for the right thing. If you open a church door, walk in and don’t feel satisfied, it’s like standing in front of the fridge and saying, “There’s nothing here to eat.” There is, but you may be hungry for the wrong thing.