“Our hearts are restless until they rest in God.” A famous quote by St. Augustine that perfectly captures our theme of seeking. This year, we have been asked, “What do you seek?” The Catechism tells us, “The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for.” (CCC 27). We are created by God and for God, and nothing in this life will satisfy us, no matter what else we try and seek.  

However, this Lent I want to reflect on how the eternal, all-powerful God of the universe seeks us. Lent reveals just how far Christ will go in his pursuit of our love. The Bible, at its core, is a love story of God continually seeking out his people. From the very first sin of Adam and Eve when they hide in shame in the garden and God asks “Where are you?” to God seeking Moses in the burning bush, to Jesus seeking out the twelve apostles and calling them by name, to the Holy Spirit seeking out the disciples in the upper room and descending upon them. God is always the initiator.  

During Advent, we see that God is willing to become a helpless baby who gently knocks at our hearts. Lent shows us that Christ is willing to enter the depths of human suffering in his relentless pursuit of our hearts. In the gospels, we read that the night before Christ died, he went to the garden to pray alone. As He prayed, Christ sweat blood (Luke 22:44). We often forget the human side of Christ. But in this story, we see Christ’s humanity on display. He knew the pain he was about to endure and was so intensely afraid that he sweat blood! Even though Christ was so intensely afraid, He chose the cross. He chose the cross for you. For me.  

On the cross, Jesus says, “I thirst.” (John 19: 28) This is not merely a physical thirst but a thirst for souls. Jesus can endure the excruciating pain of the cross because of his unquenchable thirst for your love.  

"I thirst for You. Yes, that is the only way to even begin to describe My love for you. I thirst for you. I thirst to love you and to be loved by you…You forget Me, and yet I am seeking you every moment of the day … Do you find this hard to believe? Then look at the cross, look at My Heart that was pierced for you. Have you not understood My cross? Then listen again to the words I spoke there – for they tell you clearly why I endured all this for you: ‘I thirst…’I have never stopped seeking to love you and be loved by you.” 

Mother Teresa of Calcutta 

God never stops seeking you. He entered the darkest corners of human pain because he thirsts for you. Pope Benedict XVI asks us to consider, if God is searching for me, “do I want to recognize him? Do I want to be known by him, found by him?” This Lent, let God seek you. Let yourself be found by the creator of the universe.  Let yourself be consumed by divine love. Nothing will satisfy your heart except the infinite, unconditional love of God.