Materialism has become the religion of our age. With the amount of physical possessions and distractions available to us on a daily basis, we can easily replace the sacramental life with spending time with our things. The sacramental life and living out our faith emphasizes leaving the things of this world behind for the sake of sacrifice. Denying yourself a life of materialism is already difficult enough as it is, but to do so for the good of another (sacrifice is, after all, the essence of love) can make it even more difficult. Ultimately, materialism is about serving yourself, while detaching yourself from your possessions is about serving others, making yourself available to them, and prioritizing relationships over self-interest. The message here is quite simple: remember that all of your possessions will eventually leave you. It is better that you foster a tendency of detachment from material things now so that you have nothing tying you to this world when your time has come to leave.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus speaks often about treasure. The Christian life as it relates to material riches has always been a difficult subject to address; on the one hand, the poor are blessed in a way that the rich are not because they do not experience the same distractions. On the other hand, Jesus clearly teaches that riches and treasure have their appropriate place, both in worship of God and in serving His kingdom. Ultimately, though, poverty is the path by which we can most closely emulate the state of human beings in heaven; in union with God, we have no material possessions because we do not need material possessions. Our treasure is what God provides for us, in this life and the next. Therefore, it is crucial that anything God has decided to permit us to have or earn in this life be oriented and reappropriated towards Him and serving His people, not just our own needs and desires. The reason Jesus talks about treasure so often is because he wants to emphasize that properly using the treasure given to us will allow it to multiply and to be used in even more ways to serve God and His people. If we hoard our possessions, either using them only for ourselves or not using them at all, we waste the instruments we have been given to expand the kingdom of God on earth. As Paul tells us, think of what is above, not of what is on earth. Just as Qoheleth alludes to in Ecclesiastes, you will most likely not taste all the fruits of your labor. Rather than letting it go to waste, allow your treasure to be used to serve everyone, not just those who foolishly seek it for pleasure.

The opening line of the book of Ecclesiastes encapsulates the limitations of what we hold on to in this life: Vanity of vanities! The original word in Hebrew, hevel, can be translated as “vanity” or “meaninglessness”, but it literally means “vapor”. This is such an interesting juxtaposition to the rest of the Hebrew Scripture, which assigns the meaning of life, that which is not vain nor meaningless, with the word nephesh, which can be translated as “life” or “soul”, but literally means “breath” or “throat.” In all we do, our actions amount to a panting after God that pales in comparison to the divine breath, the Holy Spirit, that moves through all things and gives us meaning. To try to hold onto this world through material possessions is meaningless. Instead, we need the breath of God in order for ourselves to breathe. The first step is ridding ourselves of the vanities that tie us to a purely earthly existence.

Life is a delicate collection of good moments and bad moments, successes and failures, triumphs and losses. Each element, whether it be positive, neutral, or negative, directs us toward a new path that reveals exactly who we will become. Will we be humble in the good moments and praise God in thanksgiving? Will we learn from our inadequacies and go to God for comfort and guidance? While our lives can cause us to shift from feeling great to feeling terrible from one day to the next, it is absolutely necessary for us to hold on to one thing regardless of our current situation: we must pray. Prayer is communicating with God and presenting to Him all that weighs on our hearts. It is also a way for us to simply show our gratitude when things seem to be aligning perfectly. Whatever life throws at us, communicating with God exactly what is on our minds and within our hearts is how we can appreciate any potential opportunity for growth.

One of the most profoundly beautiful passages in all of Scripture can be found in the quite depressing book of Ecclesiastes. Upon reading this book for the first time, it seems like the thesis of Qoheleth is that life is filled with meaningless actions, and then you die. There simply is not a lot of hope in his words, and even in the little things that bring joy in life, those will inevitably wither away and lead us back to our daily struggles. But sandwiched between all of this hopeless language is perhaps the most perfect expression of hope in all of human writing: There is a time for everything. There is a time to be happy and a time to be sad. There is a time to give and a time to take. There is a time to weep and a time to laugh. There is a time to mourn and a time to dance. Too often, like Qoheleth, we want to look at life as a big picture. When we do so, we see all of the toil that is required of us, as well as all of the suffering that comes from simply existing. It can be too much, with little in terms of a return for our hardship. However, we should remind ourselves to look at the little details of life to find its fullest meaning and its greatest purpose; in the simplest things, such as spending time with your friends or doing something that brings you a little bit of joy, you find the things that keep you motivated and moving. That is hope. At the same time, the little inconveniences in life, like falling down or feeling unable to learn and grow in the smallest matters or skills, remind us of how powerless we are compared to God. As difficult and painful as these things may be, they are the impetus for faith and trust in God’s plan.

Our errors and inadequacies lead us to trust God. Our joys and relationships give us hope. Every little moment in life is ultimately a contribution to our journey towards our final end - love. Christ himself was happy and sad. There were times when he freely gave and times when he had to take. He wept with those who wept and laughed with those who laughed. He mourned and he danced. But his life taken in its entirety was one of suffering, just as we tend to see our own lives. Unlike us, though, he oriented his suffering to love and embraced it simply out of love for us. In a single moment, we might simultaneously be doing something we enjoy and suffering for it. We are willing to suffer and be in pain because of love - love for life, love for others, and love for God. A life oriented towards doing God’s will embraces the fun moments and the painful moments as ways in which we can model Christ’s love for us to those around us. Inevitably, it will lead us back to God.

What is your chief concern in life? What is the one thing that seems to be the source of all of your issues, all of your fears, and all of your difficulties? It changes from person to person, but it also changes within us individually depending on the moment in our lives. In our youth, we are concerned with those things that are fleeting and insignificant because our life experiences up to that point have been rather insignificant. As we grow older and our responsibilities begin to build up, our concerns become far more serious and far more significant. Occasionally, in our adulthood, we will look back on our youth and cherish just how naive we were and how simply we looked at the world around us. Ultimately, the distinction comes down to what we have experienced. Concerns and worries are based solely on what we have experienced so far, nothing more.

You cannot even begin to imagine what you have yet to experience. You might be at an age in your life where time is winding down and there is very little left for you to experience. On the other hand, you might just be beginning to explore the world and the future that lies before you. In both situations, though, there is still a certain level of naivety. The wisest and most experienced person in the world cannot fathom the life that is to come and what awaits us after death. In this sense, even the most well-formed humans are truly childlike. The things that we worry about in this life are always going to pale in comparison to the things that we will be concerned with in the next life. Our souls are at stake; we no longer have to worry about food, shelter, family, or protection. Instead, we are solely focused on our state for the rest of eternity. Still, you should recall your youth fondly. You should reminisce about your petty quarrels with your siblings, your unrequited school-age crushes, your homework and tests that introduced you to stress. Those were truly such silly concerns, yet they defined your entire world for you. Imagine what it must be like, then, to pass onto the next life, to undergo the pain of purgatory, and to ultimately find yourself in the loving embrace of your Heavenly Father. You will look back on the most serious concerns and the greatest troubles of your life just as you do now on the concerns of your youth.

We simply do not know what life has in store for us. We can plan, predict, and work towards certain things, but it is ultimately God’s decision where you will be led. This is an extremely important lesson that we must be aware of at this point: there is so much we don’t know, and it is a blessing that we don’t. God wants us to live in the moment, to appreciate what is on our plate right now, to address our present concerns and show gratitude for our present gifts. However, He also wants us to be aware that every aspect of our current lives - our concerns, our blessings, and everything in between - is fleeting. There will come a time when all that we own in this life will pass away. All of our current relationships will either end or be transformed. But so will our worries and fears. God will welcome us home into His loving embrace and wipe every tear from our eyes. We’ve gone through the trial of life so that we can fully understand what it means to be a child of God. He cannot wait for us to grow from our days of youth to the place we were always meant to be - in His arms.