Settling for slops

Unitalicized parentheticals within the quotations below added.

This gospel story (Jn 14, through verse 9) helps me see that though we may come home to the Father, as did the Prodigal Son (different story), at a particular time and place, that moment is preceded by a season. I have learned this lesson repeatedly in breakthrough moments through the years. - Neal Lozano, Abba's Heart

As have I. And it turns out that the extended seasons of preparation which the Father uses to prepare us for one lesson which we stubbornly persist in not. quite. getting can coincide with preparation for the ones that will come after. After all, God is not surprised by my struggles to arrive where He is leading me.

Neal goes on with another thought from the Prodigal Son's story:

The recognition of lack, to know that without God there is no life, is actually a blessing. Jesus said, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Mt. 5:6 RSV). Pride, arrogance, self-sufficiency - whatever kept him from seeing clearly was eclipsed by awareness of his need. - ibid.

It is true that these things get in our way, too. "I don't need some superstition to help me make sense of the universe or my insignificant place in it!"

As with the Prodigal Son, the recognition that we are starving for the Father is a pain that leads to happiness, for hunger has a way of driving us toward home. Hunger sharpens our senses. It makes us aware of the things that are most important. Other desires pale in comparison with our need for sustenance, for life-giving food. - ibid.

But it can be so hard to notice the true nature of our need. We can mistake the slop trough which the world continually replenishes for us for real nourishment, failing to understand that we can never gorge ourselves sufficiently on them to provide the real nutrition that we need.

On the third through fifth Sundays of Lent, our parish uses the readings for year A at all masses, for multiple reasons: in support of the RCIA scrutinies, to give all parishioners a common experience of mass, and to simplify homily preparation for our priests. This week, we will hear the reading of Jesus' encounter with the outcast Samaritan woman at the well (or, more accurately, vice versa). As we discussed this reading yesterday during our men's group, at one point one of our deacons talked about the quality of cistern water. It occurred to me that we likewise fail to receive Jesus' living water, preferring to rely on the scummy, stagnant water source we have come to know and trust. We don't even recognize our thirst. Going back to the second quotation, above: yes, to recognize the true nature of our lack is a priceless gift.

When the things we use to mask the reality of our lives are stripped away, we come face-to-face with our inner loneliness. To avoid the miserable reality that sobriety brings, addicts long for the next drink or drug. People repeatedly enter short-lived, empty relationships filled with the illusion of intimacy but which only mask the loneliness that plagues them. Some go after thrills and excitement, and as soon as one adventure wears off they crave another. - ibid.

These things can never fulfill us. St. Augustine was right: we each have a God-shaped hole, and only He can fill it. Restless is the heart until it finds its rest in Him.