“In all our searching, many times we don't find the time for finding.”

“Why God should want and need us is a mystery. But it is true: otherwise he would not have created us and life would ultimately have no meaning for us. It is good to remember that in God there is a constancy, a consistency of attitude which never changes, irrespective of what we are or how we act: he never changes in his wanting us or needing us.” - Cardinal Basil Hume

Gospel Text: (LK 4:14-22)
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,
and news of him spread throughout the whole region.
He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all.

He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up,
and went according to his custom
into the synagogue on the sabbath day.
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.
He said to them,
“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”
And all spoke highly of him
and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.

Remember the old country western song, "Looking for love in all the wrong places"? That's where the trouble begins: we try to find love apart from God.

Love, consciously or subconsciously, is the perennial pursuit of humanity. Just watch the news, listen to the radio or surf the net: it's a story of a hook-up, a break-up, a wedding, a divorce, a song about love or the lack of it.

What is this about, but the relentless pursuit of what it means to love and be loved? In the end this frenetic, sometimes bitter and rancorous contest over the meaning of love demonstrates that human beings cannot get along without knowing genuine love. Why? Why is all this constantly being discussed and debated?

Because it all has to do with what it means to love and to be loved. We human beings are constantly looking for assurance that we are loved and capable of loving. This is in our very nature. And why is it our nature? Because we are created in the image and likeness of the God who is love himself.