Why did you leave? Why did you leave the place you grew up or another place you lived a long time? Why did you leave a marriage or a relationship? Why did you leave a job? Why did you leave a church?

In Gaza, Mohammad Abu Al Qumsan is grieving his two twins, Aysal and Aser, born three days before they were killed in an Israeli strike this week. Mohammed says that when he married his wife, Dr. Joumana, his joy was immense, but when he learned of his twins’ deaths, he also learned of his wife’s death. In a single day he lost everything. Yet he bore his wife’s weight, being a pallbearer for her, and then prayed at his family’s funeral. A burden too great to bear—the loss of mother and twins. This Palestinian mother had no opportunity to nurture or teach her children.

We wonder what Jesus learned from his mother. What she modeled. What she taught. What kind of advice she gave.

Jesus issues an invitation that is far more intimate and provocative when he calls himself our bread. He invites us to eat him and never be hungry again.” 

What are you hungry for? Security and belonging? Meaning and purpose? Connection. Community. Intimacy. Love. An ongoing hunger for wholeness, courage or a healing of old wounds?