Thursday, January 19, 2012

Our hearts hold our treasure and our happiness

"If we could comprehend all the good things contained in Holy Communion, nothing more would be wanting to content the heart of man. The miser would run no more after his treasures, or the ambitious after glory; each would shake off the dust of the earth, leave the world, and fly away towards heaven." - Saint John Marie Vianney

Gospel text (Mk 3,7-12):
Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples.
A large number of people followed from Galilee and from Judea.
Hearing what he was doing,
a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem,
from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan,
and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon.
He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd,
so that they would not crush him.
He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases
were pressing upon him to touch him.
And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him
and shout, "You are the Son of God."
He warned them sternly not to make him known.

In today's Gospel we see that «A large crowd from Galilee followed him» and also «a great number of people» coming from other places (cf. Mk 3:7-8) are surrounding the Lord. And He paid heed to all procuring, without exception, their good. We have to keep this in mind during the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Something about Jesus makes us feel like mobbing Him. "A great crowd followed Him from Galilee, and an equally great multitude came to Him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, and the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon" (Mk 3:7-8). "In view of their numbers, He told His disciples to have a fishing boat ready for Him so that He could avoid the press of the crowd against Him. Because He had cured many, all who had afflictions kept pushing toward Him to touch Him" (Mk 3:9-10), and unclean spirits would "fling themselves down at His feet" (Mk 3:11).

St. Augustine said that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. When we become aware that Jesus is near us, we sense that we should run up to Him (see Mk 10:17) and hold on to Him for dear life (see Mt 28:9; Jn 20:17). We sense that He is not only our only Hope but Hope itself! Without Jesus Christ and the teachings he gave to us through his Church, the world is lost, a prisoner to sin and death.

Every human person (without exception) has an “emptiness“, which only Jesus can fill. There is a “Christ sized hole” in every human heart. The problem is, humanity tries to “fit” worldly things into that hole (money; prestige; power; drugs; alcohol; sex, etc) , which ultimately leave us empty and alone in the end. Life’s greatest secret is to discover this universal truth.

Therefore, throw yourself at the feet of Christ and hold on to Him forever.In doing so, we will find true peace and joy. I guess the question to reflect upon today is:

Why does humanity settle for second best?

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