LOST AND FOUND

 A REFLECTION FOR THE HOLY FAMILY

LOST AND FOUND

We’re painfully aware that when we commit a grave sin, we lose that sanctifying grace within us which alone can save our soul.  We banish from our soul the Holy Ghost, and yield instead to a false god, an idol, placing ourselves and our own interests and pleasures ahead of those of our Creator.  But what if we haven’t sinned quite so badly, but still feel that God is absent from us, and that we have lost him?

 

The fact is, at times like this, God is not lost.  It’s just that we have lost sight of him.  We become so distracted by the events of this world that we forget all about Divine Providence, God’s eternal plan for mankind, and the ultimate victory which belongs to him alone.  We look at the madness that surrounds us on every side, and once the anger and frustration subsides, we give in to a surreal depression, a hopeless feeling that we can do nothing to improve our lot, and that things can only get worse and never better.

 

“Behold,” says Psalm 120, “ he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”  God sees what’s going on, he is quite aware of the sinful lunacy of those who find truth only in their own lies, and for whom the only good rests in their own evil ways.  He understands our pain, our dejection, our frustration.  And he allows it to happen only so that the final victory may be all the more glorious.

 

I believe that God deliberately hides himself from our sight at times like this.  When our Lady and St. Joseph lost their Child in Jerusalem, that Child was not really lost.  He wasn’t wandering the streets, crying for his parents.  He knew exactly where he was and what he was doing.  They had just lost sight of him, that’s all.  And so they sought him.  And that is what God expects of us too during this crisis in our nation’s life.  It isn’t enough to wail and lament as we continue our journey back to Nazareth or wherever it is we want to be.  No, like Christ’s Mother and foster-father we must turn back and actively seek God, knowing full well that only he can make sense of everything and restore peace and joy to our souls.

 

This is what God wants from us right now.  He may be hidden but he is not lost.  He wants us to look for him.  “Seek, and ye shall find!”  And when we find God in the midst of our tribulations, in him shall we find the way out of them.  This is the message the Holy Family gives us today, that we may never tire of seeking out our Blessed Lord, especially in our darkest hour, because he alone can make the hour brighter, he who is the Light of the World.