Have we forgotten what we were made for?

One day, when I was about eight years old, my sister had an appointment at the optometrist. While my mom and I sat in the waiting room, I tried to entertain myself by attempting to read the vision charts across the room. My mom ended up making an appointment for me that day. 

A few weeks later, I ran out of the Walmart Eye Center into a much bigger world. It wasn’t that the world itself had changed, my own vision had.

The readings this weekend deal with a similar problem - spiritual near-sightedness. As human beings, we often focus on what is right in front of us and forget to look at the big picture around us. We see only the individual tasks and not the goal in the distance.

The truth is, we have forgotten what we were made for. This world isn’t it. Our purpose and the meaning of life rests on the fact that you and I were made for eternity, specifically eternal communion with God. That is the goal that should direct our actions and our motivations, but we constantly get distracted by what the teens call “side quests”. A side quest is a video game term that refers to a mission or task that is outside of the main storyline, and does not advance the objective of the game. The problem with side quests is that they distract you from the greater goal, because they are more immediate.

This weekend, Jesus, St. Paul, the Psalmist, and the writer of Ecclesiastes all call us to reevaluate whether we are focusing our efforts on the real goal, and the greater storyline, or if we are giving our lives to side quests. How much time, effort, and resources do we spend on our eternal relationship with God, as opposed to things that will be of no use to us when we die?

Chances are we all have some priorities that are out of place. This week is a great opportunity to take some time in prayer and evaluate whether our goals and motivations are helping us pursue eternal life or distracting us. Do we spend as much time pursuing God as we do wealth? Or status? Or pleasure? Or control? Do we skip Mass to watch football or go to brunch? Do we avoid prayer because we are too busy? Do we put off our children’s sacraments so they can play soccer? Do we avoid confession because we would rather sleep in? Do we ignore someone in need because we don’t want to be uncomfortable? These are not judgments, but an examination I frequently have to do on myself.

The good news is that, through the grace of God, we can reset our priorities and focus on what really matters to God. If we do, I think we’ll find that everything else will fall into place, and he will take care of us like he promises over and over in scripture. We only need to put on our eternity glasses and place our trust in God.