An
ancient Greek proverb teaches: “There are two things that one cannot
hide: being drunk and being in love.” Perhaps that explains why both
drunkenness and love have figured so prominently historically,
appearing not only in verses of poetry and novels but also in
self-help books, homilies and sermons, and television talk shows.
The prominence accorded these two human behaviors has very much to
do with something that lurks deep within each and every one of us:
the power of desire. According to Thomas Hart, in his book
Hidden Spring: The Spiritual Dimension of Therapy, every problem
we have comes down to what we desire. Every one of us desires
things in some way, shape, or form.
The issue we must contend with is not desire per se, but the
object we desire. As Blessed John Paul II once famously said about
premarital sex, “desire is good—God created it—but we need to be
educated in desire.”
So, let’s consider today that “education in desire.”
The Bible is the book par excellence that teaches about
“holy” desire, especially as this has been depicted in God’s love
for humanity in and from the beginning and as this has all been made
concrete in the Law, the Prophets, and especially in the life of
God’s only begotten Son, Jesus. At the same time, the Bible is also
the book par excellence that teaches about “unholy” desire,
as this has been depicted in the tragic choices human beings have
made in and from the beginning as all of this has been made concrete
in the way that many of the good people God has created have become
very bad people and whose exploits have been recorded in the annals
of history. They failed to follow the Law, to listen to the
Prophets, or to imitate Jesus’ way of life.
Those stories in the Bible that teach us about “holy” desire—the
love God has for human beings in and from the beginning and as this
has been made most concrete in God’s only begotten Son, Jesus—remind
us that desire becomes inflamed when we place our hope in God.
Then, as we engage us in spiritual warfare, our minds—our
imaginative, rational, and intellectual powers—wrestle against our
feelings. The outcome when we are educated in “holy” desire is that
we define ourselves as “good people”—“God’s holy people”—because we
desire and place our hope in God.
In
contrast, those stories in the Bible that teach us about “unholy”
desire—those tragic choices human beings have made in and from the
beginning—remind us how desire also becomes inflamed when we place
our hope in “the world, the flesh, and the devil.” Each of these
immerse us in spiritual warfare whereby our minds—our imaginative,
rational, and intellectual powers—wrestle against our feelings with
the outcome being that we decide to define ourselves by the world,
the flesh, and the devil. The outcome when we are educated in
“unholy” desire is that we define ourselves as “bad people” because
we desire and place our hope in everything but in God.
Let there be no doubt about it: This spiritual warfare is extremely
challenging and in those battles between our minds and our feelings,
we are very susceptible to “unholy” desire, especially when we dupe
ourselves into believing that what is “good” for us is really “bad”
for us and that what is “bad” for us is really “good” for us. Just
think about something you’ve done or said in your life that would
cause you to blush today. I’m sure every one of us possesses
first-hand experience in this regard, because we all would like to
undo some of those past choices we’ve made, no?
What’s important for us to consider about this education in desire
is that we are in complete control when we engage in spiritual
combat: it all starts when we choose what we desire and place our
hope in it. This object of desire then informs our decision-making
process and that’s how we shape our identity. In the end, and for
the better or worse, for richer or poorer, and in sickness and
health, we become what we desire, having placed our hope in it.
In
the end, we
are “good” through our free choice and we are “bad” through our free
choice. No one else can be blamed, try as we might.
I
thought about this idea of desire because St. Peter wrote in today’s
epistle that we should “Always be ready to give an explanation to
anyone who asks you for a reason for you hope….” That statement
raises the question: “In what do you really place your hope?”
Surrounded as we are today by so many creature comforts, it’s easy
to desire more and more of those creature comforts and for them to
shape our identity and to define us. To think that a house or a car
or a job or an IPad or IPod can provide the source of one’s identity
seems silly, doesn’t it? It is, of course, unless you have placed
your hope in those things.
It’s the same with the schools we attend, the people and places with
which we associate ourselves, and the books, magazines, and
television shows we watch. To think that these provide the source
of our identity seems silly, no? It is, of course, unless you have
placed your hope in those people, places, and things.
Now, in light of all this, consider what St. Peter wrote. If we are
to share in the glory of the Risen Lord, we must desire—that is, we
should put our hope in—being united with Christ. His way of life
and death teaches us by means of his example how to allow the desire
for God to inform our decision making so that we also will be
innocent of wrongdoing and our consciences will be clear. We can do
that only when we desire God.
This is what St. Peter means when he writes “Sanctify Christ as Lord
in your hearts.” As we united ourselves with the Risen Lord, he
will strengthen us as we engage in spiritual warfare. But, we must
first imitate his way of life and holiness and allow this to direct
our desire so that we increasingly place our hope in God, who will
never forsake us. Then, “Always be ready to give an explanation to
anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope…” St. Peter reminds
us.
Like drunkenness and love, let us consider our honest answer to that
important question: “What do you truly desire that you cannot hide?”
And let us resolve to become educated in “good” desire, “To die to
sin” as St. Peter wrote, not as a fait accompli but as
something we struggle to achieve day by day as we engage in
spiritual combat by increasingly desiring the good—God—and placing
our hope in Him.
How your family
might celebrate the Easter Season:
Easter is so important that it cannot be celebrated in just one,
single day. To celebrate Easter appropriately, the Church
takes fifty days (forty days leading to the Ascension and ten days
leading to Pentecost Sunday, fifty days that culminate on what used
to be called "Quinquagesimea Sunday"). These are the days that
constitute the entire "Easter Season."
Here are four
simple ways you might celebrate the entire Easter Season with your
family:
1. Place a white pillar candle in the
center of your kitchen table. Each night before dinner, assign
a member of your family to light the candle and to recall
what a person said or did that day to reveal the Risen Lord.
As part of the blessing prayer, give thanks to the Lord for the gift
of that person.
2.
Take a daily walk around the neighborhood. Identify one sign
of new life each day. After completing the walk, sit down
together as a family in the living room or family room and relate
each sign to the new life that God has given all of us in the
resurrection of His only begotten Son.
3. Invite an estranged family member,
relative, or friend (or a family member, relative, or friend who
hasn't been to visit for a while) to dinner each of the Sundays of
the Easter season. Before the prayer of blessing over the
food, read a resurrection appearance where Jesus says to his
disciples, "Peace be with you." Following the blessing of the
food, offer one another the sign of peace before partaking of the
meal.
4. In preparation for the Solemnity
of Pentecost, have each member of the family on Easter Sunday write
down on a piece of paper a gift of the Holy Spirit that he or she
needs in order to become a more faithful disciple. Fold and
place these pieces of paper in a bowl in the center of the kitchen
table. At dinner each evening, pray the "Prayer of the Holy
Spirit" to send for these gifts upon the members of the family so
that your family will become a light to the world. Then,
before the prayer of blessing over the dinner on Pentecost Sunday,
burn the pieces of paper to call to mind that the gifts have already
been given in the Sacrament of Confirmation. The challenge is
now to live out those gifts in the ordinary time of our daily lives.
Easter is an event that
happens each and every day. During the fifty days of the
Easter season, in particular, you and your family can prepare to
make Easter happen each and every day of your lives by "practicing"
these simple exercises which connect Jesus' risen life to yours as
well.
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