hungering for Him

St Ambrose talks to us about our motivation for repentance today in A Year with the Churh Fathers. He says that our motivation is hunger for Jesus.

Now, St Ambrose was Catholic. So when he talked about hungering for Jesus, he was referring to the Eucharist. And for those who are Catholic and are reading this, you know what that is like.

But whether we are Catholic or catholic, we all know that hungering for the Eucharist doesn't mean wanting some bread. It means yearning for the One who fills our soul with joy and love and peace and grace. Whether we find Him in the bread and wine turned body and blood, or we find Him in His word aka the Bible, or we simply find Him in prayer, we all find Him in a way that leaves us changed.

And when we've wandered... when whatever sin easily entangles us has done its nefarious work, and we find ourselves eating the husks that we're supposed to be feeding the pigs, we yearn for home. We want to go home and see our father's face and be fed by his plenty. And the amazing thing is, Jesus is all of those things... He's our home... and our Father... and the plenty. He is the one that fills us up and gives us twelve baskets left over. (If your theology spidey sense tingled when I said He's our Father, I just mean it in a "if you've seen Me, you've seen the Father" One in being sense, not that they're the same. Jesus and the Father are One, but Jesus is not the Father. One might say He's our brother. But all of these are just metaphors anyway.)

So the next time you wander far from home.... remember the One who is waiting to feed you with Himself when you come home. That's all the motivation we need.

God, thank You for waiting for us patiently when we wander off, and being more than worth it when we return.