Where Are You?

Where Are You

Saturday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Piety

The LORD God called to Adam and asked him, “Where are you?” Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? The LORD God then asked the woman, “Why did you do such a thing?” Genesis 3:9, 11, 13

Still, he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” Mark 8:5

Study

“Where are you?” 

Despite what we do, in Genesis, we see that God never stops looking for us.  He questions.  He probes.  He explores.  And then he waits for us to respond.

Adam and Eve might feel like they are getting the proverbial “third degree” – interrogation under glaring lights in police headquarters.  They know what they did.  Yet they could not come out and admit it.  Not in front of God!  God had to slowly pull a confession out from them. What did they do and why did they do it?

A different force motivates the “Jesus” we encounter today.  Empathy for the crowd spurs Jesus to act in conjunction with the disciples.  You cannot fee the crowd with the greed and selfishness and ego-centric disposition of Adam.  If Jesus was motivated by selfishness, he might have just picked up his tent and gone home, leaving everyone to fend for themselves. Empathy and pity spurred Jesus and those around him to take care of the needs of others, not of themselves. 

Last week, the Henri Nouwen Society posted a short reflection about the “Return of the Prodigal” story and painting.  The searching God of Genesis reminds me of the father in that story.  Here is what the Society had to say about the painting:

"Looking again at Rembrandt's portrayal of the return of the younger son, I now see how much more is taking place that a mere compassionate gesture toward a wayward child. The great event I see is the end of the great rebellion. The rebellion of Adam and all his descendants is forgiven, and the original blessing by which Adam received everlasting life is restored. It seems to me now that these hands have always been stretched out--even when there was no shoulders upon which to rest them. God has not pulled back her arms, never withheld his blessing, never stopped considering his son the Beloved One. But the Father couldn't compel his son to stay home. He couldn't force his love on the Beloved. He had to let him go in freedom, even though he knew the pain it would cause both his son and himself. It was love itself that prevented him from keeping his son home at all cost. It was love itself that allowed him to let his son find his own life, even with the risk of losing it.

Here is the mystery of my life is unveiled. I am loved so much that I am left free to leave home. The blessing is there from the beginning. I have left it and keep on leaving it. But the Father is always looking for me with outstretched arms to receive me back and whisper again in my ear: 'You are my Beloved, on you my favor rests.'" #HenriNouwen THE RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON

Action

God cannot work in the world without us.  (Jesus needed the loaves and the fishes to feed the crowd.)  Whether he is commissioning us to do his work or feeding us, he wants us to be a part of his work. No matter where we are today, he wants us back on his team.  

Adam was free to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree.  The Prodigal Son was free to leave home.  We are free to do whatever we want. Yet God is free to never stop looking for us or welcoming us home.