From the Friars: Homesick

At the end of June, I will be making my annual visit to my family in Michigan where I grew up. It is always a joy to see loved ones and to go back to the place that for me will always be home. At the same time there is a sadness because it is no longer my home. Growing up, my plan was to stay in the Detroit area my whole life. I never wanted to live anywhere else. But as Mother Theresa used to say, if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.

The word nostalgia is a combination of two Greek words: nostos-return home and algos-pain. Therefore, one definition is homesickness, but another meaning is a longing for the past. Both of these are common experiences. There is something in us that is attracted to going back to where we came from. It is much more than just a sentimental desire but is something that God has put into our nature, just as we have many other natural wants and needs from our Creator. For example, our body naturally hungers for food and finds fulfillment, at least temporarily, in eating. But hunger for food is meant to teach us about a deeper hunger for God. Jesus says, “I am the Bread of Life, whoever come to me will never hunger…” (Jn 6:35)

We can return to a place but we can’t go back in time. This makes our nostalgia especially painful because it seems that there is no way to fulfill the desire. But here also there is a spiritual fulfillment in Jesus. This Thursday is the Solemnity of the Ascension. Our Lord came down from Heaven and now is returning to His Father, as He speaks of in the gospel for today. From all eternity the Son comes forth from the Father and returns to Him. Now He does so in His human nature.

We also came forth from God when He created our soul at the moment of our conception in our mother’s womb. We were made to freely return to Him. In Jesus we find the way home to our Father’s house and our deepest longing is fulfilled. Never again will we be homesick, because like Our Savior, and in Him, we can go home again, forever.

God bless you.

–Fr. Peter