The Hound of Heaven

 In 1890, a poem was published in England by a homeless man named Francis Thompson. He had submitted the poem to a magazine at the urging of a Catholic priest who had been counseling him for his chronic opium addiction and recognized the beauty of the man’s writings. The editor of the Catholic magazine was also so impressed with the poem that he went into the streets and searched out this homeless poet and found him lodging at a halfway house. The poem, entitled “The Hound of Heaven,” quickly became one of the most famous religious poems in the English language and had a profound impact on later writers like JRR Tolkien, GK Chesterton, and Robert Frost because the poem tells the story of a human soul who tries to flee from God. The soul thinks that it will lose its freedom in the company of God, but ultimately finds that only true freedom can be found in God’s loving embrace. This theme is at the center of today’s Mass readings.

In the reading from 2nd Chronicles (36:14-16, 19-23), the consequences of the people of Judah turning away from God are evident. Despite God's repeated warnings through the prophets, the people persist in their disobedience and rebellion. Yet, even in their waywardness, God's faithfulness shines through. He allows the Babylonians to conquer Jerusalem and take His people into exile, not out of wrath, but out of His loving desire to call them back to Himself.

The psalmist echoes the sentiments of the exiled Israelites in Psalm 137, expressing their deep longing for their homeland and their beloved Jerusalem. Yet, amidst their sorrow, they hold fast to the hope of God's faithfulness, trusting in His promise to restore them. This unwavering trust in God's steadfast love is a testament to His faithfulness in drawing His people closer to Himself.

In his Letter to the Ephesians (2: 4-10), St. Paul reminds us of the incomprehensible richness of God's grace. It is by grace alone that we are saved, not through our own merits or works outside of God’s grace. This underscores the reality of God's faithfulness in drawing us near to Him. Despite our unworthiness, God showers His love upon us, offering us the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

In the Gospel reading from John (3:13-21), Jesus speaks of God's ultimate act of faithfulness in sending His Son into the world to save us. Through His sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus becomes the ultimate manifestation of God's love and mercy, drawing all people to Himself. Just as Francis Thompson portrays in his poem, "The Hound of Heaven," God pursues us with relentless love, longing for us to return to His embrace. Todays readings remind us, as did the poet Francis Thompson as he was writing his now famous poem, that God, in His Infinite love for us, will pursue our souls to the ends of the earth and beyond. Only then will we be able to trust Him enough to try to return to that Love, allowing the Hound of Heaven to “catch” us. Today’s readings tell us about the breadth and depth and height of the Divine love of the Hound of Heaven for each one of us.

Sadly, Francis Thompson never completely broke free from his addiction to opium and died from Tuberculosis at the age of 47. He is buried in St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in London with the single epitaph to the Christian hope on his grave stone from a poem he had written shortly before his death, “Look for me in the nurseries of Heaven.”