We all are attracted to something, though it doesn't take long to notice that what we are attracted to varies greatly from person to person. As human persons, what we truly want is to be happy; we want to be filled with joy. It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that what we are often attracted to are the things that we perceive will bring us happiness.
Very often
we think we will find happiness if we own that one thing. We listen
to those infomercials on TV that promise us immense satisfaction if
we call now and buy their product. Have you ever noticed that when
they start out these advertisements, they always show some goof ball
who clearly has no idea what he or she is doing? A voice comes on
and asks, “Are you tired of having to struggle with your old garden
hose?” (or whatever it is they're selling). The person is usually
making a mess or causing themselves pain and frustration of epic
proportions. In this case maybe the old garden hose is tangled and
water is getting everywhere except where you need it. Then the voice
comes back as says, “Then you need to try the new 'Water-matic
Three-thousand'”, or some other snazzy sounding name. Whereas the
old product shows the users being frustrated and grimacing as they
struggle with their chores, the new product shows a new set of people
who are smiling and are clearly enjoying using the new Water-matic
Three-thousand, or whatever it is. The voice continues to describe
why their product is so much better than anything you may have used
before. The price is even kept at rock bottom low, plus the
obligatory “$9.95 shipping and handling”. And what infomercial
would be complete without hearing the words, “But wait, there's
more! Call know and receive a handy book light with every order”.
The makers
of those products and infomercials want us to believe that buying
certain things will bring us the happiness that we want. They want
us to be attracted to those things. Even our society tries to tell
us that the more we have the more we will be happy. The truth is,
certain things may bring us happiness for awhile, but there is no
guarantee that it will last forever. No one ever said that life was
fair, and we all know from experience that it isn't always happy
either. There is something more important than material things that
we should be attracted to.
We can also
be attracted to people of course. TV shows and movies often give the
impression that if we find the right friend or the right boyfriend or
girlfriend, or the right spouse we will find all the happiness that
we hope for in life. It is true that close family members and
friends can bring us many wonderful hours of laughter, happiness and
companionship throughout life. They offer support and consolation in
difficult times as well. However, anyone who has been married could
probably regale us with stories of times when marriage wasn't exactly
the fairytale that some make it out to be. We believe that God
blesses spouses in a special way on their wedding day, but even with
those blessings there are still fights and anger and frustration.
Attraction to another human being, whether in or out of marriage does
not bring perfect joy.
The answer,
as you probably all expected, is with God. Sacred Scripture shows us
that our perfect joy can only be found in our relationship with God.
It is He who we are attracted to. All other attractions that we find
on earth, like material things and people, are only attractive to us
because we think they will fulfill our desire to be happy. They only
fulfill it for a limited amount of time, however. God can fulfill it
for eternity.
In Mark's
Gospel today, we hear a continuation from last week's Gospel is which
the Twelve Apostles are sent out two by two to preach repentance and
drive out demons. Now they have returned and are amazed at what they
were able to accomplish. Jesus knows what they need and invites them
to go to deserted place to rest. He knows that after preaching and
casting out demons they needed some time alone with God. It's not
unlike how we are invited back to this place of prayer each week
after spending time being a witness to Christ to all we meet. As
they go to this little mini retreat, many others come as well and
arrive before them. Why do all these people want to come to a
deserted place? Why did the Twelve want to go off with Jesus in the
boat? Why do we wish to spend our free time on a perfectly good
weekend in church? Because we are attracted to God. We are drawn
towards Him and want to be with Him. Even some of the people who
come to Jesus in the Gospel today may have been complete strangers to
Christ. He responds by having pity on them and begins to teach them.
St. Paul
talks in His Letter to the Ephesians about how those who were once
far off have now “become near because of the blood of Christ”.
In other words, Christ has brought us together through His blood. It
is through His blood that we are redeemed and so we desire to be with
Christ, the Son of God. We are attracted to God.
It is all
good and well for me to say that we should all keep our focus and
attention on God. Deep down I think we all know this already. The
difficulty is in the distractions. I'm talking about all those
material things and the relationships that I was talking about before
that we think will make us happy. All those who try to get us to pay
more attention to those things (to focus on buying more stuff and to
worry about relationships) are not unlike the shepherds that the
Prophet Jeremiah warns us about in the first reading. These false
shepherds try to lure people away from God for their own profit, just
as many today try to lure us into buying products and relationship
help all for their profit as well. But as Jeremiah says, one will
come who will help us and give us what we truly need, like a good
shepherd. Christ will lead us to the Father. There we will find our
true joy.
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