Rebuilding a Relationship with God

Homily for Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Life without God is empty, unfulfilling. Haggai describes this in the opening chapter of this brief prophetic book. At that time, the Israelites had returned from exile in Babylon with instructions to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple, which had been destroyed by the Babylonians. However, despite starting the rebuilding process, after several years they still had not completed it; prophet Haggai’s mission was to awaken them from their apathy.

They work, Haggai declares, but they have little to show for it. They eat and drink, yet are left unsatisfied. Everything that they do would leave them feeling empty, because they were missing the one thing that really mattered: God.

This feeling of emptiness was also experienced by Herod the tetrarch. He almost certainly did not realize the source of his discontent. Ironically, he was missing God, even when God was right in front of him. He had the sense that something extraordinary was going on. He had heard about Jesus and was greatly perplexed because he had ordered John the Baptist killed, yet some were saying Jesus was John. Sadly, we know that Herod ultimately never realized who Jesus was.

Through his prophet, the Lord gives us a remedy for an unfulfilled life; namely, fulfillment comes when we give our life to God. We were made to be in relationship with God, to serve and to love God, so when we neglect this responsibility, we actually neglect the very purpose of our lives.

For the Israelites of Haggai’s time, fulfilling their lives would only come when they realized their purpose – the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple. What that looks like for us will vary. We may be asked to build on our lives of prayer, service, study, or sacrifice. We may be asked to live patiently as our strength diminishes. The principal the Israelites learned applies to all of us. We cannot be satisfied when we ignore God.

As St. Augustine famously said centuries ago, “You have created us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”