What Do You Long For

The Psalm verse 37:4 once spoke so deeply to me, I had a tattoo made in Hebrew: “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” What does it mean to delight in the Lord? What are the desires of the heart?&

Old Testament Wisdom

The readings for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time seem to focus on greed, but I think they speak to letting our desires be shaped by God. Qoheleth, the voice behind the first reading, is a kind of ancient wisdom teacher. He begins with haunting words: “Vanity of vanities… all things are vanity.” It’s not a rejection of life, but a reflection on how fragile our efforts can be when we place our hope in things that don’t last.

The Letters of St. Paul

St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians was written during one of his many imprisonments. It is full of hope: “Seek what is above, where Christ is… Put to death the parts of you that are earthly.” Paul is inviting us to let go of what weighs us down and reorient our heart to let Christ transform our inner life. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of a rich man who decides to build bigger barns to store all his wealth. But he dies that very night. His mistake isn’t that he had great wealth, but that he neglected what really matters, to be “rich in what matters to God.”

Living the Message

We are called to be shaped by truth, compassion, and humility. Transformation doesn’t happen all at once. A pure heart is not achieved overnight. It unfolds slowly, through prayer, trust, and small acts of letting go. Quietly, over time, the Spirit reshapes us from within. As we begin to truly “delight in the Lord,” our desires change to become more generous, loving, more free. May we delight in the Lord, not as a bargain with God, but as a relationship that is rich in what matters.