Will we let God find us?

During the month of November, our church says to us, “Take a look at what has happened in the great outdoors. The grass has died. The flowers have died. The leaves have died. This is the time of the year when we think about death and talk about death. Not death by itself but death and resurrection together. We should look at death from the perspective of our faith; and our faith tells us that death and resurrection always go together.

The Easter mystery says that New Life is always found in the midst of death. That’s why the Easter candle is always part of every funeral Mass. Our Catholic faith tells us to begin the month of November by celebrating the Feast of All Saints. On that day we will celebrate the New Life which God has given to all the saints. The key word is all. We celebrate all the saints…. Including our loved ones who have gone before us.

And in the midst of that celebration, we will hear our church calling us to listen to the voices of the saints. She is calling us to honor the saints; but to also listen to their messages.

So, my goal today is to call to bring forward voices from the past. When it comes to the saints, I like to listen to the voice of Saint Catherine of Sienna. Saint Catherine lived in the fourteenth century when there was chaos in the church. And I mean real chaos. There was chaos because the church had two popes instead of one. The church had two popes because certain cardinals elected a second pope because they did not like the one who was in office. And those two popes were at war with each other. Catherine did her best to serve as a peacemaker and mediator.

Her friends would say to her, “Where do you get the courage to go and talk to those two popes? Don’t you know that they have the power to excommunicate you?” And Catherine would reply, “I place my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, not in myself.” The story of Saint Catherine gives us some wonderful words from the past: “I trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, not in myself.”

Our Mass today gave us three more voices from the past. During our Bible readings we heard messages from Jesus, St. Paul, and the author of the Book of Wisdom.

The Wisdom author died about 50 years before Jesus was born, but his voice is still speaking to us. He says, “My people, you have broken the covenant by disobeying the commandments. You are worshipping false gods and doing violence to each other. But all is not lost because God is a lover of souls. God has mercy on you and God is overlooking your sins so that you will have a chance to repent.”

I love that message. God has mercy on us, and God is overlooking our sins so that will have a chance to repent.

Jesus died in Jerusalem in the year 33, but he is still alive, and he is still speaking to us. Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “Zaccheus, come down from that tree. I have come to search for and save those who are lost. Come down from that tree and stand by my side.” So Jesus has a message that is comforting and consoling. He has come into the world to search for and save those who are lost.

Saint Paul died in Rome in the year 62 A.D., but his voice continues to speak to us. In today’s Second Reading, his voice is saying, “God is close to you and helping you to carry out your good intentions. God is powerfully bringing to fulfillment the good work which you have begun.”

When I listen again to the messages of Paul, Jesus and the Wisdom author I hear a common message. Each one says that God wants to be close to us. God is the Hound of Heaven. God is searching for those who are lost and tracking them down and finding them. God wants to be close to us.

The Wisdom author says that God is looking for us and overlooking our sins. Why? Because God is a lover of souls. God is looking for us and overlooking our sins.

Jesus is looking for Zaccheus and all those who are lost. He says, “I have come to search for and save those who are lost.” And Paul says that God is moving in our direction because he wants to help us to bring to fulfillment the good work which we have begun.

And that brings me to my conclusion. During the month of November our church calls us to listen to the voices of the saints.

Today’s liturgy calls us to listen to the voices of Jesus and Paul and the author of Wisdom. And they are collectively telling us that God is the Hound of Heaven. God is searching for us and finding us and forgiving us and leading us into heaven.

Only one question remains: Will we let God find us? We are fully aware of our sinfulness and that causes us to feel some shame. Now do we truly believe that God wants to track us down and forgive our sins? If so, we will let God find us and we will enjoy the peace that we have been searching for.

Like I said before: Only one question remains: Will we let God find us? That is the bottom line. Will we let God find us?