GETTING WHAT YOU WANT

 A SERMON FOR LOW SUNDAY

There’s a saying that you don’t always get what you want.  This morning I’m here to tell you the opposite.  Or almost the opposite.  Because more often than not, we do get what we want, don’t we?  And the reason we do is that if we want something badly enough, we’re prepared to do whatever it takes to get it.  We try every method open to us, we overcome every obstacle, we spend whatever time, whatever energy it takes, until we get what we want.  And if we don’t get what we want, it’s usually because either what we want is impossible, for example, I want to grow wings and fly; or because we were never meant to have it, for example, when we don’t win the lottery; or thirdly, and this is far more often the case, because we never really wanted it enough.

If we really, really want to play the violin well, we’ll save the money to buy the instrument and pay the tutor, we’ll put in the hours and hours of practice that it takes, we’ll hire baby sitters to watch the kids while we learn our techniques, we’ll never stop trying until, by golly, we can play that violin like a pro.

The key to success, you see, is in wanting it enough.  Today is the Sunday after Easter, on which we commemorate the faith, or lack of it, of one of the apostles, St. Thomas.  Poor doubting Thomas!  He follows our blessed Lord through thick and thin, he wants to believe this is the Messiah.  He sees the miracles, hears the words of wisdom, and is determined to follow our Lord to the ends of the earth.  But then, as soon as trouble arrives and our Lord is arrested in Gethsemane, his faith crumbles and he flees.  And when his good buddies tell him that our Lord has risen from the dead, he’s beyond reluctant to giving the assent of faith to them when he’s lost it in the man who gave it to them.  If Christ can’t be believed, then Thomas surely isn’t going to believe Peter and John and the others.  Besides, people don’t come back from the dead.  Maybe Christ raised Lazarus and a few other people from the dead, but he sure as heck can’t raise himself from the dead.

So Thomas refused to believe.   He didn’t want to believe.  And if your desire for something is that weak, the likelihood is that you won’t get it.  It took divine intervention to restore Thomas’ faith.  Our Lord appeared to him and showed him the physical proof that he had risen.  He showed him the mortal wounds in his body, wounds that no man could survive.  And yet, he was alive and well.  Thomas’ faith is restored, but only through physical proof—not the most meritorious kind of faith, but faith nonetheless.

It happens now and again.  Apparitions, miracles, physical evidence to support our faith.  They shouldn’t be necessary, because we should want the faith enough to make sure we have it and that it doesn’t ever fail us.  But, being human, we sometimes get discouraged and our faith does fail us.  Or rather we fail our faith.  It’s a testament to the infinite patience and mercy of God that he provides for such times by sending his blessed Mother to console us, to counsel us, and to warn us, Fatima being a notable example.  Even avowed atheists were converted by the miracle of the sun.

But maybe you haven’t encountered any miracles in your life.  And maybe you are getting a little discouraged by the evils of the world.  Like St. Thomas, you look around for your divine Saviour, but you don’t see him with your physical eyes, or hear his voice with your physical ears.  And so maybe you think he is dead, never to rise again in this world of sin.  And like Thomas, you’d be wrong.

But let’s not follow Thomas in his doubt.  Let’s follow him in his new-found faith, a faith that never again faltered as he spread the Gospel as far as India and died a martyr’s death.  Easier said than done, you might think.  And that is where our desire for the faith comes in.  How much do you really want that faith? Enough to do whatever it takes to have it?  Then don’t just pray for the faith when you doubt.  Pray for the desire for the faith. 

Many people say they don’t have time to pray.  But if they want to play golf, this they find time to do.  They feel like watching TV, well, there’s always time for that, isn’t there!  Because if we really want to do something, we’ll find the time, we won’t be too tired, we won’t be looking for excuses not to do it.  If we want to pray, we’ll pray.  If we want to be holy, we’ll naturally strive for holy practices, for the virtues we need to overcome our own particular weaknesses and imperfections.  So if we find ourselves lacking faith, we must pray, not just for faith, but to want faith with all our heart, mind and soul.  We must pray for all the right wants and desires, we must pray to want God and his kingdom, we must pray for a mind that prefers to focus on all the true priorities of life, on what is good, true and beautiful. 

Do this and you’ll find that your faith is automatically strengthened by the graces God gives you as you make him the new focus of your desires.  Expel from your mind the mundane distractions of the world.  Replace them with your new-found priorities.  Desire a greater love of God, a greater faith in God.  This desire is a prayer that God loves to answer.  Believe him, you’ll get what you want!