Are you desperate… for God?
5 February 2018
Have you ever seen the look that a baby has for its mother? The look of complete and utter devotion and dependency. In her lies all that the child could ever need: safety, security, love. This love is one that nurtures, that protects, that is faithful and that sacrifices all for the good of the child.
So what happens when the baby loses sight of its mother? Sheer desperation ensues. Without their mother, the child’s world comes crashing down around them.
It is this desperation of a child for its mother that should be the foundation of our faith. It is this desperation that we can see in today’s Gospel. Wherever Jesus went across Gennesaret, the villages would lay down the sick with desperation, begging Jesus ‘to let them touch even the fringe of his cloak.’
‘And all those who touched him were cured.’ This is Jesus’ response, to serve those in need and bring healing to their lives. Jesus never ceased to show His merciful love, just as he constantly offers His forgiveness whenever we are in need. His invitation leads to an encounter, marked by a profound renewal in our lives.
Do you want to be healed? Do you want to be renewed? This is an effort of conversion, which can only be achieved by opening our hearts and minds to being reconciled with God. This reconciliation is grounded in an understanding that you are created out of love, for love.
The magnetism of the crowds towards Jesus, the source of love, is extraordinary. But it is not without sacrifice on behalf of those who seek him. Everything else is put on hold to prioritise an encounter with Christ. You too can encounter Christ, but is it your priority?
Saint Augustine gives us a key to this encounter when he said: “pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”
A relationship with Jesus requires work. Today, ask yourself what more you can do to work on this relationship? Do you have to rise earlier to pray? Give an offering to your Parish community? Carve out quality time for prayer or go to a Mass during the week?
Above all, may each of us open our hearts and minds to Christ and desperately seek Him.
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