We rely on certain things to anchor us in life: family, nationality, geography, even our bodies. These kinds of things help us to know who we are. Jesus asks us to find a new anchor for our lives: God. While family is important Jesus said, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” The Jewish people during the Babylonian exile had lost their country but they still knew themselves to be the People fo God. Rebuilding the temple was a priority for the returning exilces but Jesus foretold that the second temple would also be destroyed, “not one stone would be left upon another,” yet God’s was still in the midst of the people. Jesus was willing to undergo bodily death because of his trust in the plan of God. The challenge in our own prayer is to look at the things we rely on to give us a sense of our identy, our worth, our value. Anything other than God will ultimately be disappointing since we are made for God and, as St. Augustine put it, “our hearts are restless unless they rest in you, Oh Lord.”
