Fame… Pleasure… Power… Wealth
In and of themselves, none of these four are bad. Yet, when we place them as idols before God, they become a disorder that can lead to attachment and addiction. The reason is we believe the attainment of one or all will bring meaning, fulfillment, and happiness to our lives. They can bring moments of happiness, although each are finite and will not last and no matter how much fame, pleasure, power, or wealth we attain it will never be enough.
This is because we have a deeper hunger in the depths of our souls. We are a living, craving, hunger, and desire to be one with God and each other. Nothing else will satisfy that deep hunger for love and intimacy and when we substitute it with anything else we will be left wanting.
This could be what the prophet Malachi is driving at when he asks, “Have we not all the one father?
Has not the one God created us? Why then do we break faith with one another, violating the covenant of our fathers.”
The priests of Malachi’s time are looking to their power and prestige, their pride of place instead of leading the people into deeper relationship with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God not of the dead but of the living.
Jesus echoes Malachi in his charge against the scribes and Pharisees. They profess the law of Moses, but they do not put what they preach into action. And instead of helping the people they are to serve to experience the love of and deepen their relationship with God, they place upon them heavy burdens that instead creates a barrier to relationship.
Jesus invites those gathered around him and us today to set aside apparent goods and substitutes for God’s love that will fade and to open our hearts and minds to our loving God and Father who will fulfill, give meaning, and joy to our lives.
Happiness is based on the external and finite. When the sensation ends, so does, except for a memory, happiness, and we find we need more of what makes us happy. Joy wells up within us, not from something external, but from the love of God within us as we experience our communion with him. God is eternal and his love not only never ends but expands. As the psalmist sings: “In you, Lord, I have found my peace.” This can be true even when we are going through challenges and trials.
If you would like to experience more meaning, fulfillment, peace, joy, and authentic love in your life, I invite you to ask God to help you to identify who or what substitutes, attachments, and/or apparent goods you are placing before your relationship with God. Let them go into the perfect fire of his love that will purify that which is partial, that which is not leading you into deeper relationship with him.
Those relationships and pursuits that remain do so because they have been purified. We will enjoy our relationships and engagement with the things of the world more because in placing God first, all else will be in their proper balance and order. We are no longer looking for them to feed us because we are satisfied with the love of God.
Photo: Enjoying God’s creation in making time to pray the Rosary each evening, St. Vincent De Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, FL.
Spiritual Stepping Stones 