I Thought You Should Know | God has a GPS, too: Jesus Christ is 'God's People Seeker'

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Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I Kings 3:5,7-12

Romans 8:28-30

Matthew 13:44-52

Sometimes I think that humanity is trying to go in 1,000 different directions simultaneously. Sometimes I think that humanity is fleeing from its God-given center as found in the Book of Genesis. The poet William Yeats addresses this in his poem, "The Second Coming," when he says, "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold."

Sometimes we lose sight of God and do not know where to find Him. We often look in all the wrong places.

Some seek the infinite in greed or the acquisition of money. What is true of Wall Street is also true of our street. The greedy person never achieves the infinite wealth he/she thinks will make him/her perfectly happy. St. Paul calls money "the root of all evil."

Some seek the infinite in sexual pleasure. Each new object of sexual attractions promises infinite fulfillment but gradually leads to utter despair. Illicit sexual pleasure does not satisfy the soul's longing for the infinite.

Some think that infinite happiness lies in possessing a good which another person has, and so they experience deep sorrow in not possessing that good. Envy is its own punishment, because the possessor is denying his or her own inner gifts, while looking in vain to possess someone else's gifts.

Some think that the infinite pleasure exists in venting all of one's inner, hidden anger, all the while not realizing that this same anger, turned against oneself, will lead to self-destruction.

Pursuers of illusory gods always come up empty in their own spirits.

Jeremiah tells us, "More tortuous than all else is the human heart, beyond all remedy; who can understand it?' (Jeremiah 17:9) St. Augustine expresses a similar theme when he states that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. That is why you and I need direction from God.

How can humanity be saved if it is headed in the wrong direction? In today's second reading St. Paul tells us, "We know that all things work for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose."

Yes, mankind is searching for the infinite but gets lost in its search, because man does not know his destination.

When we are traveling in an automobile and get lost, we resort to a Global Positioning System, or GPS. A GPS sends signals to orbiting satellites to locate its own proper position and then gives us directions for arriving at our destination.

The good news is that God also has a GPS, and He is Jesus Christ. He is God's People Seeker.

We see this clearly illustrated in today's Gospel parable in which Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a treasure buried in a field. The person who finds that treasure goes out and sells all that he has in order to buy that field.

Humanity is that buried treasure, and Jesus is the one Who found us and gave all He had, His very life on the Cross, to purchase us with His blood.

For three years prior to His Passion, Christ, as was his custom, would rise early in the morning to find a lonely place where He could commune with His Father. From there, he went out to seek and invite mankind into the kingdom.

He especially sought out the troubled people, whether afflicted by sin or disease.

Jesus reached out and offered hope to all who came to Him. He healed the lame, the blind, the lepers, and He extended mercy to all, even to those who needed it but could not ask for it.

The Samaritan woman, the woman caught in adultery, the paralytic, the lame man and Zacchaeus all received God's mercy because Jesus sought them out and extended it to them because He knew that they, deep down, longed for it and needed it.

You and I also have many longings, many of which we can't articulate.

Every day, Jesus is reaching out to us through His Holy Spirit. When we do not know how to pray as we ought, "the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God's will."

So Jesus Christ daily is seeking us out through His Holy Spirit, searching our confused hearts in order to give us the guidance we need to find God.

When we drive a car equipped with a GPS, and we violate the directions it gives, it will always find another route to lead us to our destination.

That is the work of Jesus, through His Holy Spirit. He is always seeking to help us to find our way back to God, to the virtuous life. "We know that all things work together for those who love God."

However, Christ cannot save us unless we pay attention to His Spirit guiding us through the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church.

The question we need to ask ourselves is: "How well am I paying attention to the Holy Spirit in my life?"

Do I listen to the Holy Spirit prompting me to return to God by making a worthy Confession? The day will come when these promptings will cease.

Do I have a good daily prayer life in which I reflect on how well I am listening to God's revealed word? Am I harboring anger and resentment toward others? Do I get to Holy Mass at least every Sunday? Am I living a chaste life? Am I giving scandal to my children or friends by my lifestyle? Do I receive Holy Communion in a state of serious sin? Am I in denial about the state of my immortal soul?

Do I realize that Jesus is using this Holy Mass and this homily to reach out to me and call me back to Himself?

Every day Jesus is paying us a home visit, inviting us back into the kingdom? Are we listening?