Thirsting for God

 

   “As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, the living God.  When can I enter and see the face of God?”  (Psalm 42: 2 – 3) 

   When the psalmist wrote the psalm quoted above he was a long way from Jerusalem and longed to return to God in His temple.  While I feel a closeness to God in my life, I am still separated from Him in this world.  My desire is to enter His presence in the eternal temple of heaven.

   The Baltimore Catechism tells me that God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.  I too often fail in my efforts to know, love, and serve God in this life but I pray that, in His mercy, He recognizes my desire to do so.  I seek to be happy with Him forever in heaven and pray that my attempts at holiness please Him.

   In chapter four of the Rule of St. Benedict, monks are encouraged to consider their mortality each day.  In this way it encourages approaching every moment as a way of serving the Lord, knowing that each moment may be the last.

   “Let us make up for lost time.  Let us give to God the time that remains to us.”  (St. Alphonsus Liguori).  I’m not sure that I can truly make up for lost time but giving to God whatever time I have left is surely the best way to try.

Lord You are with me always.

In good times and in bad.

Help me to serve You in this life.

That I may join You in the glory of heaven. 

Amen