In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus said, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) The abundant life that is ours in Christ is not an accumulation of more stuff that we might be tempted to think Jesus will give us if we pray hard enough for it. Rather, the abundance he offers is that of spiritual intimacy. Yes, more satisfying than having all the stuff that the world has to offer is the abundant life of friendship with Jesus. Long after our lives with all our material abundance on this earth have ended will be the joy of intimate friendship with Jesus…forever!
Given our natural desire for “more,” when Jesus said, “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly,” we more readily imagine the material possibilities. I often think about how profitable legalized gambling has become almost everywhere. While people may not hear or may soon forget the negative consequences of legalized gambling, the desire to “win big” clouds their judgment and fuels their desire for a material abundance. The idea of having the financial resources to “enjoy life” now often obscures an appreciation for the spiritual abundance Jesus came to bestow. The desire for spiritual intimacy with our Lord is overshadowed by the hope of winning Powerball, and all that we could then do with the payout.
Part of the problem is that we have trained ourselves to desire instant gratification. When you put a $1 bill into a vending machine, the soft drink comes out immediately. However, you can pray fervently for some intention with great desire yet not receive the expected outcome the same immediate way. Thus, we have to train ourselves to desire the more of what Jesus came to bestow upon us in abundance. Fundamentally, this is more in terms of our relationship with him, though his abundant love could also include material things. It is a matter of expanding our idea of what an abundant life really is.
Look at what we see in the world. Hollywood celebrities, rock stars and professional athletes have the financial resources to obtain anything they want, yet their personal lives are often a disaster. At the same time, many who are poor in material things have a joy and contentment about their lives that the rich can only envy. So, what does the abundance look like that the Lord desires for us? Clearly, it is about relationship – a friendship that grounds us in his saving love for us. Jesus wants us to experience his particular love for each of us, personally, and know what that abundance is like.
If it can be challenging, at times, to grow in relationship with people who are physically present to us – neighbors, co-workers, etc. How then is it possible to have a relationship with our Lord, when we cannot see him with our eyes, hear him with our ears or feel his embrace? The answer is by means of prayer, using the interior faculties of our imagination to receive faith, hope, charity. In prayer we take time to “be with” Jesus. First, we find a quiet place to pray. Then we place ourselves in the Lord’s presence, and then we ask for that which we desire. Then, we quiet our minds from thoughts, feelings and desires and allow the Lord to put something into our awareness, to see what comes to us.
Intimacy with our Lord, as with anyone else, takes time and communication. As we accustom ourselves to any friendship and how the interaction with one friend may be different than our interaction with another, we notice how the Lord reveals himself to us and we learn what the dynamics of a posture of receptivity are like with him. If we are patient and consistent in our prayer, we soon receive the first inkling of this abundance, a new awareness of the “more” that the Lord desires for us. And since because from our earliest days on this earth we have been desiring “more,” we soon discover a new abundance in life about which before we hardly had a clue.
My encouragement for the reader is to make a list of your many desires for more. Put material desires on one side of the page and desires that are intangible (emotional and spiritual desires) on the other side. Take plenty of time to notice what your deepest desires might be. We all have things that we want in life but make sure you list what you REALLY desire. Then pray into the desires that lead to the abundant life that Jesus desires for you, and for the grace to let go of the desires that might get in the way or distract you from the greater good. Ask the Lord to show you what the more might be that HE desires for you. Ask the Lord for a deep desire to receive the abundance that he promised.
Joyfully, let us believe that there is MORE awaiting each of us – a more that is even beyond our imagination! And this more, though eternal in its abundance, is even now ours to some degree by means of the Lord’s loving providence. Every time you desire more of the material things of this world, allow that to be a reminder that there is an even greater spiritual abundance through friendship with Jesus, and in his Kingdom that will have no end.
