What do you really want in life? Deacon James M. Sinacore shares the answer in his homily delivered at St. John Vianney Parish, Northlake Illinois, on March 27, 2022.
***
Have you ever thought about what you want in life, what you really, really want?
I’m not referring to common desires like wanting a new pair of shoes or a different job or a new car. These desires come and go over time.
I’m asking if you have ever thought about what you desire from the very center of your soul. I’m talking about a longing that is so deep and personal that it makes all of your other desires pale in comparison.
Unfortunately, I imagine that many people have not given this much thought because of all the distractions we have in life. However, I would argue that for each one of us there is a desire at the center of our being, a desire that never goes away, a spiritual need that drives the manner in which we think, feel, and act — and is so basic that we don’t even realize that it is there.
We might not be able to readily articulate it but I honestly believe that the deepest desire we all have is to experience intimacy with God … the God who has brought us into being.
That beyond anything else is what we want, what we really, really want. But unfortunately, the evil one, through his manipulation of the material world tries to get us to fulfill that desire with worldly means. And let me tell you something; it never works.
Young people, we must never forget that Satan is a fallen angel. And as an angel, he has a superior intellect, which is the way God made him. He knows what we want, what we really, really want.
He uses every means at his disposal to distract us, to keep us from reaching the goal of our deepest desire. He knows that as biological beings we favor our senses. He tantalizes us with what can be seen, heard, felt, smelled, and tasted. And while we go chasing after sensual experiences to fulfill a spiritual need, the clock is ticking. Every day that passes brings us one day closer to our death.
If the evil one can interrupt our path to God, if he can fool us into desiring worthless things, he could very well have one more soul for the pit.
Hell is the only place where God does not exist. For those who are there, it is so dark and empty that it has to be characterized as a state of being where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Having said all of this, it should start to make us realize how important the sacraments are. Have you ever wondered why Jesus gave us sacraments? He didn’t have to. There certainly was no binding necessity of logic that forced him to do it. He did it on His own accord. Why?
Well, we cannot presume to know the mind of God. but it is reasonable to think that Jesus gave us the sacraments because He knows we need them. It makes perfect sense. He knew 2,000 years ago as He knows today that our deepest desire is to experience intimacy with God and that’s what the sacraments are.
Every time we receive a sacrament, we experience divine intimacy and we have a foretaste of what awaits us in heaven.
Of course, our senses do not lead us to this realization, so we have to reach beyond our senses to understand it. But think about it, In just a few minutes the prayers of our priest will lead to the transubstantiation of the bread and wine that will be on the altar. We will have Jesus Christ in our presence. We will receive Him and bring Him into our interior just like a bride who receives her husband.
Do you see the intimacy?
This is what we desire above everything else and we don’t need to be college professors with years of education to understand it.
Desiring intimacy with God comes naturally to us. It is stamped into the fabric of our being and no casual hookup, no expensive car, no lavish home, no high-paying job, and no erotic imagery can ever fulfill us. As much as people may desire these things, they will always be left unfulfilled by them.
Eternal intimacy with God is our buried treasure. It is our pearl of great price. We should be willing to lose anything and everything and we should be willing to undergo any suffering in order to experience divine intimacy.
In today’s Gospel reading Jesus emphasizes the importance of His teaching on this matter by saying to us just as much as He said it to those who were with Him 2,000 years ago: “Do you understand all these things?”
If there are any unhealthy desires in our lives, we have to root them out.
If we find ourselves trying to satisfy spiritual needs with earthly sensual means, we have to turn away from such things.
Never forget that we have been created for heaven. And if we act on that realization with only a fraction of the wisdom that God gave to Solomon and avail ourselves to what Our Lord has left us in His Church, we will find one day that as the angels are separating the wicked from the righteous we will find ourselves in the arms of our heavenly Father.
And then for all eternity, we will have what we want what we really, really want.
