OUR SOULS ARE RESTLESS UNTIL THEY REST IN GOD


TUESDAY, FOURTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP 

Hos 8:4-7,11-13; Ps 115:3-10; Mt 9:32-37

Sowing Wind and Reaping Whirlwind

God made us that we may know him; knowing him, we may love him, and that we may serve him in love and devotion. He made man unique in that he made him in his image, intending to perfect him in his likeness. The free will God gave to man differentiated him from every other material creature. The practical implication of free will is that man needs to seek to find; he needs to ask before he receives, to knock, for the door to open. God gave us an innate ability to seek and find the way, to ask and receive the illumination of truth, to knock and enter the fullness of life. The Eternal Word contained all these from the beginning for man, for he was made in God’s image. Man failed to give himself freely to God, who made him and showed him the path to walk, the truth, and life by giving him his word. Evil one misled man to sow self in creatures without the creator. He sowed wind because desires return null and void when directed to creatures outside God. Each of us knows this experience for the mistake of our forebears is perpetuated through us by our inordinate desires. The prophet Hosea accused Israel of the same error of Adam and Eve in these words. “They sow the wind, they will reap the whirlwind; their wheat will yield no ear, the ear will yield no flour, or, if it does, foreigners will swallow it.”

Human desires generated by disordered spirits are like winds blowing here and there. Our spirits are disordered because we fail to align our desires with the will of God. We fail to nurture and train our spirits on the word of God, which is the way, the truth, and the life. Thus, when we invest or sow our desires in material creatures, they return nothing satisfactory to our spirits made in the image of God. These are the sins of Israel. “They have set up kings, but not with my consent, and appointed princes, but without my knowledge. Out of their own silver and gold they have made idols, which are doomed to destruction.” This describes the prostitution of Israel as a nation. Hosea’s relationship with his unfaithful wife represented this for the people of Israel. Just as the sexual exploits of the prophet’s wife with her adulterous partners never satisfied her but drove her wild more and more, the same way our souls would forage wildly and restlessly in the wilderness of creatures until we come to God. We must learn to sow the word of God daily in our lives and build our lives on it to yield bountiful harvests that will last forever.

The restlessness of souls without the direction of the word of God is what the Lord witnessed in the gospel. “When he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.” We wander because we have refused to sow our desires in the word of God freely given to us. The word of God has the power to drive away forces of darkness, illumining our minds with truth and setting our hearts aflame with the love of God. In his infinite love for us, God sent his Son to assume our nature so that we may easily seek the way, receive the truth, and enter the fullness of divine life. We must bring ourselves and others before Jesus Christ daily so that he may drive away the demons distracting and preventing us from knowing, loving, and serving God. “A man was brought to Jesus, a dumb demoniac. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb man spoke and the people were amazed.” This is the prophetic role we are to play as Christians. To enter this role, we need not bother about what to do. The only thing required of us is to read and meditate on the word of God daily. We will find the way, know the truth, and enter the fullness of life therein. Then we will labour fruitfully in the vineyard of the Lord. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.”

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace to seek, to ask, and to knock in your word, that we may come to a deep knowledge of you, love you with all our hearts, wills, and minds, and worship you in spirit and truth.

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