Much of our modern way of living is geared to rapid turnover. Many things are deliberately manufactured to be worn out so other things will be bought to replace them. We’ve been called the Throw Away society. We throw away pens when they run out of ink. We throw away razors after a shave or two, if a zip breaks on a pants or a dress we throw it away instead of getting a new zip. If the mobile phone does not work we get a new one. It’s very hard to get rid of old furniture today, even the St. Vincent de Paul are not interested. We have such things as disposable nappies, disposable dresses, and disposable shoes. Sometimes it would make you think that maybe this is the way we think about life in general. Just think for a moment about disposable marriage vows, disposable priestly vows, and disposable Christian commitments. In today’s gospel, if we listen carefully, we will hear Jesus emphasising the importance of things that last. He urged his followers to work for the ‘food that endures for eternal life’. He clearly wasn’t talking about things you can buy with money.

He was talking first of all about the Eucharist, ‘the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you’. What are some of these lasting – perennial –  values? One of these is a clean conscience, that doesn’t shift its ground every time a new temptation comes our way, or when we read contrasting values in the tabloids or listen to them of our national airwaves. It’s amazing how many people take a face value something they read in the tabloids, or something they heard on a radio show, something that was posted on Facebook, Instagram or twitter – its fake news. As the years pass we realise that one of the few qualities that makes life worth living is a clean conscience. Another lasting value is working for others. I think that young people set a good example here. You will often find groups of young people who sacrifice some of the time as volunteers in Lourdes or Medjugorje. In Lourdes there is an organization where you can sign up for a certain time to help out with the pilgrims and young people come from all over the world to help out. There are a lot of people today who just live for themselves and when it comes to committing themselves to some charitable organization that will demand of their time and effort, they make all kinds of excuses. Working for others is wonderful value to carry with you through life into eternity. The hardest of all the values is our faith. Our faith matures with the years. And so it should. We move from childish things to adult things. We question our beliefs. We doubt our beliefs. We may even consider giving the whole faith thing up completely. If we stay with it in all climates, we will come to old age with a precious gift that holds life together.