Homily for Thursday of the 1st Week of Lent

Jesus encourages us to be seekers, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” What are we to seek? What should we ask for? The simple answer is to seek the LORD and His will for our lives. Many such seekers are mentioned in the gospels. Zacchaeus comes to mind among many others. His story reminds us that the LORD whom we seek is always seeking us. While at table with Zacchaeus, Jesus spoke of Himself as the Son of Man who came to seek out and to save the lost.

Because we can never fully find the LORD on this side of eternity, we will always be seeking Him for as long as we live on this earth. We are always on a journey toward the LORD, without ever fully arriving at our destination. Like Abraham, we are always embarking on a journey in response to the LORD’S call. In the words of Saint Paul in his letter to the Philippians, we strain “forward to what lies ahead;” [Philippians 3:13] we press on towards our goal, which is the LORD. Jesus assures us in the gospel that if we remain faithful to that search for the LORD, and the journey to which it gives rise, we will be given good things by God. In our seeking the LORD, we open ourselves to His many gifts and graces.+