27th Week of Ordinary Time - Thursday - Seeking God by the Light of Faith

Jesus offers today, some of the most hopeful words in the Gospels, “seek, and you will find”. 

No matter how dark life has become, no matter how confusing or despairing, no matter how lost I feel, we have on Jesus’ own authority, then when we turn to God and seek him, he will lead us, guide us, we will find him. 

In his new Encyclical on Faith, Pope Francis talks about the search for God. 

“Religious man strives to see signs of God in the daily experiences of life, in the cycle of the seasons, in the fruitfulness of the earth and in the movement of the cosmos. God is light and he can be found also by those who seek him with a sincere heart.

An image of this seeking can be seen in the Magi, who were led to Bethlehem by the star (cf. Mt 2:1-12). For them God’s light appeared as a journey to be undertaken, a star which led them on a path of discovery. The star is a sign of God’s patience with our eyes which need to grow accustomed to his brightness. (LF 35)”

Sometimes God is hard to see.  For many modern day atheists and fallen away Catholics, God is particularly hard to see.  Some people don’t see God and can’t find God because they don’t want to see him, and don’t want to find him.  Sometimes, as the Holy Father says, Our eyes are not accustomed to seeing God, because we’ve spent so much time in the world and not enough time in prayer.

Sometimes it is hard even for life-long Catholics to find God.  Particularly with the proliferation of war, so much violence and perversion, so many Catholics, our family members, falling away from the faith, , it’s hard to find God amidst all that. 

But for those who are willing to undertake the journey to seek God ardently, Jesus promises that God will be found. 

Pope Francis concluded his encyclical with a beautiful prayer to Mary, Mother of the Church and Mother of our faith.

Mother, help our faith!  Open our ears to hear God’s word and to recognize his voice and call. Awaken in us a desire to follow in his footsteps, to go forth from our own land and to receive his promise. Help us to be touched by his love, that we may touch him in faith. Help us to entrust ourselves fully to him and to believe in his love, especially at times of trial, beneath the shadow of the cross, when our faith is called to mature. Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One. Remind us that those who believe are never alone. Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus, that he may be light for our path. And may this light of faith always increase in us, until the dawn of that undying day which is Christ himself, your Son, our Lord!