Thinking about Desire

It is fascinating to see how Jesus taps into the heart of human desire. It seems that desire is an essential part of our human make-up and like all things human it functions on two different levels; the subconscious and the conscious. Subconscious desires may or may not be the motivation and influence that drive our conscious ones, I suppose you need to be a psychologist to get to the bottom of that, but Jesus is exploring the psyche of the human mind when he compares the kingdom to sought-after hidden treasure or pearls of great value.

Each of us has, in our minds, desired something that at the time, seemed beyond our wildest dreams. We may have dismissed such thoughts as irrational and impossible, but the fact that such thoughts come into our minds signal to us an elemental character of our nature. We look at ourselves and at our condition, and we wonder: what if? Clearly our desires change as we grow, the desires we have as young children being so different from those we have as adults, which in their turn evolve as we mature. Where though is Jesus guiding us in making these statements about desire?

We often believe that there is an insurmountable difference between what we can realistically desire and how we can achieve our desire. We may desire “world peace” but what is the point of such a desire, when my ability to make any impact on such a desire is you may think impossible. But look at the parables and see what is being said. The goal or the desire which is the subject of the parables, has been found, but the parables don’t end with any idle speculation. On the contrary, both the discoverer of the treasure, and the merchant, go off and make every effort to ensure that they are going to possess what they’ve found. “Now wait a minute” I hear you say. “It’s one thing to speak about matching and achieving desire in a parable, but quite another to do the same thing in reality.” Well, granted yes, but the point being made relates the one with the other, and consequently with our response. The gift on offer, the object of our desire, is the immeasurable treasure of God’s love, and our response has to be a wholehearted one, in which we recognise the obligation that we have as disciples. Desire doesn’t end with possession but as Jesus says with things new and old. Acquiring the treasure should change us, bringing a new dimension into our discipleship. Driving us to see our lives as conduits of God’s love, through which is channelled the Spirit’s gifts to the world, gifts of consolation, mercy, compassion and yes, even world peace, all we have to do is desire it and be the disciples we are called to be. 

Living our new life in Christ

Last week we began our baptism course, and we have ten couples who came along to receive help and instruction to prepare them for the task of passing on the faith to their children. Baptism is the first of the sacraments. You cannot receive the other sacraments unless you have been baptised. Understanding the meaning of baptism is therefore essential to opening the doorway to faith. Once we have grasped the message which baptism offers, our body and soul are united into the new life of the risen Christ, and this new life which we speak of is nothing other than the eternal life to which Jesus calls us.

Putting it in these terms can sometimes come as a bit of a shock. How can we
already be living our eternal life? Isn’t eternal life supposed to start when we die? Well listen to what St Paul says in today’s second reading: when we were baptised we went into the tomb with him (Jesus) and joined him in death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too might live a new life. In
essence what St Paul means is that our baptism becomes the moment when our eternal life begins. We have become a new creation and we are to be considered alive for God in Jesus Christ. I think that this is such an important concept that we should take time to consider what it means and implies for each one of us who are baptised.

By virtue of our baptism, we are all now children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ. We see ourselves as bound through grace to Jesus and to one another. The role we take on as family is to christify the world. The great document of the 2nd Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium states: through baptism we are formed in the
likeness of Christ, and we are therefore compelled to manifest the kingdom in the way we live out our lives. As brothers, sisters and parents, the greatest way in which we can achieve this is by teaching our children the example of love which Jesus brings into the world. This is what the Council spoke of as the universal call to holiness.

Family life is integral to this concept of holiness. If families see in their make up a participation in this action of living out their baptismal grace within the framework of their relationships between mother, father and child, then the work of the Church, which is the body of Christ on earth, becomes the vehicle of witnessing this holiness. The sacrament of Baptism starts the engine which drives the vehicle and at the same time the other sacraments are the eternal fuel which sustain the engine and keep the vehicle running. Let us pray for our parents and their children as they begin their work.