Often we confuse needs, wants, and likes. ‘Needs’ are those that are necessary to ensure a quality of life. ‘Likes’ are those that we desire to have beyond our needs, because they are nice and attractive. ‘Wants’ are our desires that we choose to add on to our needs. Sure, needs, likes, and wants are all relative to how individuals respond to possibilities that exist in their environment.
I tend to think, the fundamental needs of human being are rather universal and tend to be relatively stable: in terms of food, clothing and shelter. Legitimately, these needs can progress from the bare minimum to a comfortable level related to quality of life. But there is a threshold point in this progress.
Let me illustrate that with an example. The way we will describe the need for shelter could move from just having a roof over our head with animal hides to a decent house with electricity and running water. However, there is a limit to the need around that house. While living in a comfortable house may be a need, living in a luxurious house may only be a liking that could eventually become a want. As I said earlier, these things are very relative. Wisdom is acknowledging the relativity of these things, without absolutizing them.
I have come up with a hypothesis: as societies develop our needs grow gradually but our wants grow exponentially! Eventually, our wants overtake our needs. And we live our lives around wants rather than needs! This leads to consumerism and materialism.
Unless you sell all that you have
Sorry about my abstract philosophising! What has it got to do with the liturgy, on this 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time?
In the gospel text of today, Jesus elaborates by means of two parables his own injunction to seek first the Kingdom of God. That, he tells us, is the essential. The Kingdom of God should become part of our inner need and want. The Kingdom of God is like a treasure hidden in a field, you cannot attain it unless you sell all you have in order to take possession of the field, thus you show how much you value that treasure (Mt 13:44). The Kingdom of God is like a precious pearl, you cannot possess it unless you sell all you have in order to be with it, thus you show how worth the pearl is to you (Mt 13:45).
The Word of God challenges us to focus on the essential! This call of Jesus is consistent with the other sayings of Jesus (even within the Gospel of Matthew):
- “Seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides” (Mt 6:33).
- “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:37).
- “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to (the) poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Mt 19:21).
We often evade these sayings of Jesus as not being practical, and we believe that these should not be taken literally. Fair enough! However, definitely, Jesus is inviting us to focus on the essential. Jesus is challenging us to prioritise our need for transcendence – to go beyond the material existence to the reign of God in our lives. This is the Kingdom of God. This is the essential. This is our need. We should make a choice towards making it our want.
The true goal of our life
St Ignatius of Loyola writes in his Spiritual Exercises (‘Principle and Foundation’ that has influenced the 2nd question of the Catechism of the Catholic Church – here paraphrased by David Fleming SJ):
The goal of our life is to live with God forever. God, who loves us, gave us life. Our own response of love allows God’s life to flow into us without limit. All the things in this world are gifts of God, presented to us so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily. As a result, we appreciate and use all these gifts of God insofar as they help us develop as loving persons. But if any of these gifts become the centre of our lives, they displace God and so hinder our growth toward our goal.
In everyday life, then, we must hold ourselves in balance before all of these created gifts insofar as we have a choice and are not bound by some obligation. We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or short one. For everything has the potential of calling forth in us a deeper response to our life in God.
Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God’s deepening his life in me.
St Ignatius is attempting to offer a commentary on the repeated invitation of Jesus to prioritise the essential. These lines were so literal for Solomon as we heard in the first reading of today.
In summary: I am created in the image of God (Gen 1:27). And my heart is constantly thirsting to be one with its Origin. Therefore, the goal of my life is to be one with God for ever – to be part of the Kingdom of God. I need to prioritise this. I need to seek it as the valuable treasure and a precious pearl. All other things – my wealth and possessions, my family and relationships, my degrees and achievements – are only the means to reach this goal of my life: To be one with God for ever. And the ‘ever’ begins now! It is already here!