Like the deer that longs for running streams,
   so my soul is yearning for you, my God.
My soul is thirsting for God — the God of my life;
   when can I enter and see the face of God?
Psalm 42:1-3 (Grail Translation from the Hebrew)

Deep in the human heart there is a restless longing — a tender, aching emptiness yearning to be filled. Christian thinkers past and present have described it as a thirst, a hunger, a vacuum of the spirit, a God-shaped hole in the very center of our being that can be filled only by God. For Karl Barth it was a longing for the heart’s true home. For St. Augustine it was a deep-seated restlessness that touches every part of our lives. In one of the much-loved hymns of my own spiritual tradition, Charles Wesley described it as being “touched by the lodestone of God’s love,” our hearts being drawn to the One whose heart is drawn to all.

As Henri Nouwen noted, there is a deep current of despair beneath all the great accomplishments of our time. Our very culture is propelled by the quest for efficiency, control and success. And yet, there is much loneliness in our world. Feelings of emptiness, lack of friendships, depression, and a deep sense of uselessness  fill the hearts of so many in our society.  These are signs and symptoms of a greater restlessness and longing for God.

Here, in the midst of such spiritual homelessness, the simple gifts of kindness and hospitality become instruments of healing and hope. Common, ordinary acts of receiving and welcoming others enable persons to feel “at home.” Love resonates with longing, heart connects with heart, the restless spirit touches rest and peace.

Here is the ministry to which God is calling us. Simply put, God is calling us to repent fully and freely in the deeper sense of that oft misunderstood word. It is a turning of the heart to God, a re-connecting with the One whose presence both shapes and fills the vacuum within the human heart. And yet, true repentance involves another turning — an outward turning toward the world around us. One of the great “songs of contrition” in the Psalter moves us in this direction,

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
   and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
   and sustain in me a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
   and sinners will return to you.
Psalm 51:10-13, NRSV

The longing of the heart for God, the gift of repentance, and the ministry of  outreach and spiritual hospitality are connected, woven together by grace of God. In some ways this ministry is Eucharistic. It is a kind of anamnesis, a re-presenting of Christ to others. Through the humble gifts of compassion, hospitality, kindness and service, we offer Christ to others. Our calling, then, is not to shape our ministry to fit the perceived needs of the world; rather we are called to let ourselves, our ministry, and our churches be shaped by the heart of Christ who turns in loving acceptance toward all who long for home. So, in the words of St. Benedict, “Let us prefer nothing whatever to Christ, that he may lead us all together to everlasting life.”