Dear friends in Christ Jesus,

The first reading, from the Prophet Isaiah, recounts how much the Lord loves us by providing good things for us. This is the God for whom we are looking. The challenge is really to look for God in our day to day lives. So often, our seeking God is a confused reality. It is not that we do not listen to Scripture or that we do not listen to the Church. Rather we often do not allow the Scripture to touch hearts. We bypass the Word of God so as to enjoy the comforts offered by the world.

Where do we look for God today? Lots of people hope that a new political situation will save them – that can be a form of looking for God. Others believe that more money will save them and that also can be a looking for God. Still others look for a new idea that will at least stir something within them, and that also can be looking for God and for salvation.

Today our Lord teaches us strongly to look for God and wear the wedding garment which is holiness so as to get into the kingdom of Heaven. He teaches us so strongly that we must not become so caught up in the normal life of this world that we just do not care about salvation of our souls.

We can just ignore God, or we can get so busy about other things that we do not want God to bother us. Or, we can just kill off in ourselves and in our country all that gives witness to God and the demands of God. In our present world, all these things are happening right now. It is so important that we hear the word of God today and begin to listen to God once again.

Jesus comes to us and is truly present in the Holy Eucharist. May the presence of God touch us so strongly, transform and open our hearts to recognise Him.