Fr. Patrick Kane

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 23/24, 2016

In recent years, we have become quite accustomed to the smart phone. The image of people walking around using them, seeing people behind the wheel using them, even an entire family out dinner using them. It has become something normal. And there’s so many things we can do with the smartphone, from banking to directions to the endless “apps” available, there’s seemingly no limit to what they can do. The latest of these apps is the recent phenomenon of “Pokémon Go”. I’m sure many of you have heard about it in the news, or have seen others using it, or have even used it yourselves. This app, which has gained a huge following since being released only 2 ½ weeks ago, is just the latest in a seemingly endless list of cultural diversions.

Now the use of apps and other forms of diversions are not something which are problematic or wrong in and of themselves. Quite often, we need these things to offer a break from the everyday lives we live. The opportunity to watch television, go to the movies, or a ballgame, even the occasional use of video games or computers can offer us a change of pace in our lives. The danger however, can be when the usage of these diversions becomes more than just a diversion: they begin to take over our lives.

For all of us have an innate desire to find joy and peace in our lives, to find something which can fulfill and sustain us each and every day. We are constantly seeking that which we can find true rest in. These diversions in our lives can offer us happiness, but it is only passing. They cannot bring us true peace. Yet, many people go from one thing to another seeking to satisfy this longing, but they never find it.

The answer to this longing is not found in the things of this world, in the diversions and distractions that we surround ourselves with. It is only found in God. As Christ tells his apostles in our Gospel, “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” It is God whom we receive from when we ask. It is God whom we find when we seek him. And it is God whom opens the door for us when we knock. Only in Him can we find true joy and peace in our lives. Only He can satisfy the longing each and every one of us has in our lives.

So perhaps we might ask ourselves: “What is it in my life that is drawing me away from God?” “What are the things which I turn to when I am feeling restless?” And “how can I detach myself from these things?” It is only in God that we can be satisfied. Only God can bring rest to our restlessness. For God is always calling us back to Himself each and every day.

A great example we have of this in found in St. Augustine. Raised by his Christian mother, St. Monica, Augustine spent years living a hedonistic lifestyle, always trying to satisfy his needs and longings, but found himself unable to. After his conversion, he became one of the great saints of the Church. Reflecting upon his former way of life in his confessions, he said, “You have made me O God. And my heart is restless, until it finds rest in you. May these words of St. Augustine become our words as well. May we always work to satisfy the true desires of our hearts, knowing that it is only in God that we will find our true joy and peace.