Needs vs. wants: 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time

            I grew up with two younger brothers.  School came fairly easy for me and the middle child.  Coupled with hard work we were able to achieve pretty good grades throughout our education.  My youngest brother had a more difficult time with traditional education.  As a more abstract random thinker, books were not his forte growing up.  He struggled to get Bs and Cs and while his two older brothers regularly brought home As when report cards came out.  Nevertheless, it was the youngest child who received the most encouragement and rewards from my parents for the lower grades he got.  I remember the second born once saying, “I should fail some classes so I will be appreciated when I bring home all As!”

            Jesus told a parable that frustrates a conventional life must be fair mentality.  After working all day in the vineyard, the workers grumbled against the landowner—even though they already agreed on their daily wage—because the last to show up were paid the same daily wage.

            Their major flaw was in a sense of entitlement—if those who worked one hour received a full day’s pay, they thought they deserved more than a fair wage which they had already agreed upon. 

            I think the sense of entitlement is one of the greatest flaws present in the United States of America.  This mentality doesn’t begin in a bad way—indeed, our country has been built on a hard work ethic to achieve the American dream of success.  It is noble to study and work hard, to enter a career to support yourself and your family.  Yet our society leads us to think, “I deserve this money, home, brand new car because I earned it.”  As Christians, we believe that we deserve nothing because everything—including our very lives and health—is a gift from God.

            To use a practical example to illustrate this point I want you to know the compensation I receive as a priest versus that of my priest friends in Ghana, Africa.  I have a base salary of around $26,000 plus Mass stipends and other financial gifts I am given through your generosity.  I have free housing and groceries as well as medical and dental coverage.  Thank you for all of this!  Do you know how much my brothers in Ghana are given?  Forty dollars a month.  Forty bucks a month after receiving the same training and doing the same job—one could argue a more difficult job—than me.

            This is simply not fair.

            When I am reminded of these realities, I get uncomfortable.  I am by no means rich, though I am blessed to live a comfortable life and pursue a variety of hobbies.  I find myself using money on items that would be considered luxurious in other parts of the world—hunting and fishing, running shoes, meals out, etc.  Yet I often wonder what the twenty dollars I just spent on a meal out could go to feed a family elsewhere.

We must fight against the spirit of entitlement.  We must actively and diligently break free from a society in which having every new form of technology, new vehicle, extravagant getaways or other forms of excess are thought to be deserved.  This is especially so when one third of the world is hungry right now.

I hope these thoughts make you a bit uncomfortable.  No matter what your income status or current level of generosity is—and I would remiss to say I am inspired in the ways you give already—we could always give more.  Wrestling with these ideas is a sign of reflective living and is the first step to following Christ’s call.

A basic question help discern how to use the gifts you have been given is, what are your needs versus what your my wants?  Personally speaking I want a new F150 someday.  I need transportation—which I already have.  I want a fancy steak dinner out.  I need food—which I already have. 

Now I am not saying that all of our wants are to be forsaken.  Many are in accord with living good lives to help us relax, live with joy and grow closer to God.  But we must be careful about thinking our wants are deserved.  As Christians, the basic needs of life for another ought to trump excesses that I want.

Jesus tells us that to whom much is given much is expected.  He reminds us today “…the last will be first and the first will be last.”  I pray that you struggle against a prevalent sense of entitlement in our country and that you prayerfully discern the difference between your family’s needs versus your wants.  I hope you and I will respond generously to sacrifice from what we want to help another receive their basic needs.