John 6: 30-35

There is a saying that we human beings have what is called, “unlimited wants”.

After one house, there is the desire for the next house; after a new cell phone, the desire for the next model; after taking advantage of a sale, one waits for the next sale. Eventually, we have to ask ourselves, how many houses do we really need? How many shoes and clothes should we have? How much money should we have in the bank? That is why the words of Christ in St. John’s Gospel were so beautiful. “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger.”

My dear brothers and sisters, we must realize that in this life we cannot live only on “bread” or in other words, on material level only. We should live with “bread from heaven” as well… otherwise known as spirituality. This is the key to contentment, that we “never shall go hungry”.

Three keys to spiritual contentment:

1. Gratitude. Regardless of whether rich or poor, when one is grateful, contentment follows. If you think about it, the needs of men are pretty much simple. The basic needs of life are simple.
   
2. The things that matter cannot be counted. Faith, hope, love, sacrifice, friendship, forgiveness, and empathy are the many things that cannot be counted, yet these are the things that go straight to the heart.
   
3. Fear of the Lord. When a person has God in his or her life, the decisions, the way of life, the relationships are different. As the Psalms says, “The holy fear of the Lord is the start of wisdom.”

May we realize that as a human person, we are composed of Body and Soul. The needs of the body are fleeting and the needs of the soul are what really matter in life – the Bread that came down from heaven.