A story for every day...
The fish out of the water.
A thoughtful fisherman once caught a good fish and decided to give his parish priest the most beautiful fish. The fish was still alive when he placed it on the priest’s table, and began to flap his tail and writhe about. The priest took advantage of this circumstance to give the following lesson to those present: “See this poor animal, how it agitates and twists itself, it yearns for water, its true element. He is only at ease there. It is the same with us; we are created for God and as soon as we depart from Him, we are discontented and unhappy.”
– St. Augustine rightly said, “Our heart, O God, is restless, until it rests in You.”
How fools feed themselves.
A preacher once related that he had been in a madhouse. There he saw poor sick people: some chewed sand, others swallowed wind, a third sat by a fire and smelled smoke, a fourth licked his limbs, etc. At the same time, they rejected all food, they were haggard and emaciated; they were nothing more than walking corpses.
– This is a perfect image of those souls who seek their satisfaction in creatures, who are incapable of satisfying the hunger of the human heart. Some seek their happiness in the reading of newspapers, novels, etc.; others, in the pleasures of the table; in the entertainment of dance, theater, continuous travel, amusements of all kinds, video games, cell phones, gambling, etc. And yet these souls do not enjoy true contentment. Just as healthy food alone can satisfy bodily hunger, the Gospel of Christ alone can satisfy the hunger of souls. “He that cometh to Me,” says Jesus, “shall hunger no more.” (S. John 6:35)
– Without conformity to the Will of God, there is no true contentment.
