Hungering for God

Over Thanksgiving weekend, our Sisters had the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful autumn weather in Santa Rosa. Some Sisters went on hikes while others played ultimate frisbee. On one of our hikes to the top of a nearby ridge, a Sister noted how much better food tastes on the top of a mountain. And it’s true! Hunger – whether induced by a vigorous hike, a competitive game of ultimate frisbee, or a busy day teaching grade-schoolers – is the best seasoning to the hearty meals Sister Cook provides in the convent. 

There is a parallel in the spiritual life: only the spiritually hungry can be satisfied. Mary sings in her Magnificat, “The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty” (Luke 1: 53) Similarly Christ proclaims in His Beatitudes, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” (Matt 5:6). Dr. Pius Parsch in his reflections on the liturgical cycle, puts it succinctly: “According to the fundamental law of God’s kingdom, God will not force His grace on one who is already filled to satiety”(The Church’s Year of Grace, Vol 1, pg. 19). ​

At Christmas, the darkness of world will be pierced anew by the light of the Word made Flesh. God wants to give us the greatest Gift, His Only Begotten Son. To prepare us for this mystery, the Church gives us Advent. This time of longing, expectation, and preparation for Christ’s coming is the perfect time to “get hungry” for God. Advent gives us the space to ask what fills us. Am I hungry for God? Or am I full, filled to satiety with a multiplicity of desires? Then we can beg the Christ Child to rid us of our interior clutter and prepare us for this greatest of all gifts: union with perfect Love, Goodness, Beauty, and Truth, that is, with God Himself.