Our heart rests not until it rests in You

We spend our life on earth hungry and thirsty.

We are born hungry and thirsty;

we die hungry and thirsty.

Therefore we spend our lives looking for something that will satisfy our hunger and our thirst.

We are hungry for that which is good,

for that which is beautiful

for that which is true.

St Augustine used to say that these desires for the good, the beautiful and the true

have been put into our heart by God himself

and we long to be united with him who is the good, the beautiful, the true.

However the problem is that we often we mistake what seems to be good for the good

what seems to be beautiful for beauty

what seems to be true for truth.

We start cutting corners,

we make things which are mere reflections of what is good, beautiful and true

as ends in themselves,

rather than as signs of God's goodness, beauty and truth,

as they are meant to be.

As a result, we go through our life looking for what might satisfy us.

Buying things that we do not really need thinking that they are the good

looking for passing beauty that can distract us from suffering of this life

seeking the latest news or gossip that will satisfy our curiosity for shallow truths

wanting more power and popularity and fun

only to realise that we can never have enough.

Stephen's persecutor in today's First Reading were caught in this rut.

They mistook appearances for what is truly good, beautiful and true.

As a result, nothing could satisfy their desire for more

perhaps they also felt jealous for Stephen who in his simplicity had made this discovery.

It culminated in hatred and violence
They ended up stoning Stephen.

In contrast, we have that beautiful phrase:

"he raised up his eyes, looking intently to heaven"

in other words, he did not take his gaze off God,

who is himself goodness, beauty and truth.

Jesus reassures us that he is the food that came from heaven

when we put him at the centre of our lives,

when we fix our gaze on him as Stephen did

only then would we be truly satisfied.

thinking aloud