College Chaplain

Our desire for God arises from God’s desire for us.

Gospel: Luke 15:1-10

All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

How often have we lost something precious to us? Do we not spend time looking for something we have lost? Have we had to search for our keys, wallet, or even friends who have wandered off? There is often a sense or a feeling of irritation until that which we are seeking is found. How many times have we turned on the news and heard the stories of missing persons; when the person is found, we all breathe some relief, and when the person is not found, it remains a mystery. Till today, we know the police are still trying to uncover cases of the sudden disappearance of some people. 

Many people, and I dare tell all of us, spend years looking for someone to share our lives with us. We all need people with whom we can journey and who want to journey with us. 

Beneath all this searching and longing is our eternal yearning for what can satisfy our deepest cravings.

Saint Augustine wrote that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. Longing for God is the breath of our souls! It is yearning for God with our hearts that opens our souls to breathe in the Spirit of Christ and live for him alone. Our hearts will not know peace if it is cut off from the author of peace itself. Outside of Christ is void and chaos. There’s nothing more important to our lives than yearning and longing for Jesus Christ. More profound than our yearning for God is God's yearning for us. And the beauty of it is that when we seek God, we discover that he is already seeking us! 

This divine yearning took flesh in the person of Jesus. His whole purpose in life was “to seek and to save what was lost.” His search for us is like the shepherd searching for a lost sheep or a woman searching for her lost coin. These two parables describe God's continuing search for us to lead us to fulfilment. We can take hope from this because each of us is lost somehow. Our desire for God arises from God's desire for us. As St John used to say, we can only love because God first loved us.

Our longing for God should be greater than any craving that consumes us. We need to be passionate, to the point of being overwhelmed, in our desire to sit in His holy presence. The scriptures compare our yearning for God to a deer panting for streams of water. 

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” Psalm 42:1-2

To yearn for God means we long for His fellowship. God is our friend. However, it is up to us to cultivate this special relationship. He already knows us inside and out. He is waiting for us to get to know Him. If we don't spend time with God, we cannot expect to know Him intimately.

“At night my soul longs for You, indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; For when the earth experiences Your judgments the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.” Isaiah 26:9

May God give us the grace to make ourselves available to be found by God and return to the fold.