Our Indispensable Nourishment

At this point, Peter makes his confession of faith in the name of the other Apostles: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (v. 68). He does not say, “Where shall we go?,” But “To whom shall we go?” He does not say “Where shall we go?” But “To whom shall we go!” The real problem here is not in going and abandoning the work that has been undertaken, but rather ‘to whom’ to go. From that question of Peter, we understand that loyalty to God is a matter of loyalty to a person with whom they are bound to walk together on the same road. And this person is Jesus. All that we have in the world does not satisfy our hunger for the infinite. We need Jesus: to be with Him, to nourish ourselves at His table, His words of eternal life! Believing in Jesus means to make Him the center, the meaning of our life. Christ is not an accessory element: He is the “living bread”, the indispensable nourishment. Attaching ourselves to Him, in a real relationship of faith and love, does not mean being chained, but being profoundly free, always on a journey, open to the challenges of our time. ~Pope Francis, Angelus address, Sunday, August 23, 2015