18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle B
August 1, 2021
Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 5pm, 8:30am and 11am
Needs as Motivators
About ten years ago, I came across a book by an author named Douglas McGregor.
McGregor was an American management professor, and he wrote about motivation in the workplace. He holds that, in the workplace and, actually, in life in general, our human needs serve as motivators.
McGregor says that our human needs are the reason why we set goals for ourselves. He divides these into lower needs and higher needs and then draws an interesting contrast between them.
Lower needs are things like salary, food, and shelter. Higher needs are things like self-esteem, self-fulfillment, and relationships.
The lower needs differ from the higher needs because there’s a point where the lower needs get relatively satisfied, and then they no longer really satisfy us. Then satisfaction only comes from the higher needs.
For example, money and a nice home and good food – these things only satisfy to a point. But unfortunately, instead of moving to the higher needs, we sometimes get stuck in the lower needs.
We may think that more of them, like more money or a bigger house, will make us happier. But this is not the case because these will never satisfy us as our higher needs will.
Jesus: Higher Needs
Okay! Being stuck in these lower needs is where Jesus finds the people in today’s gospel.
He says: “You are looking for me not because you see signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled” – a reference to Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 in last week’s gospel. And then Jesus says: “Do not work for food that perishes” – food that satisfies only the lower needs.
Instead, “Work for food that endures for eternal life” – food that satisfies a higher need. And then Jesus identifies three sources for this imperishable food that satisfies our higher needs.
Imperishable Food
First, Jesus stresses that real satisfaction comes from relationships and not from things. He says: “I am the bread of life.”
Underneath this statement is the truth that what is more important in life is persons and not things. So, we need to put our energy into relationships because they will satisfy us in ways that material things never can.
It might be the relationship with your husband or wife or best friend, or with your son or daughter or parent. Or it might be relating in a respectful and fair way with someone at work.
And then, Jesus gets very specific about the relationship that is most important for satisfying our higher needs. He says: “Whoever comes to me will never hunger.”
In other words, human relationships are important, and we need to give priority to them. But there is an even fuller satisfaction that comes from a relationship with Jesus.
A relationship with him through prayer, Scripture, and the sacraments, especially the Eucharist – this will bring lasting satisfaction. And beyond that, this can positively enhance our other relationships.
The third source of imperishable food that Jesus identifies is really the glue that holds all of them together. The people ask, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”
And Jesus answers, “Believe in the one he sent.” So, faith is the glue.
With faith, we live with a vision that there is the Creator who made us and to whom we will return; that there is the Christ who shows us the way to satisfy our highest needs; and that there is the Holy Spirit who is always with us. This faith brings us a great inner satisfaction.
Conclusion
So, Jesus calls us to seek 1) relationships and 2) himself and 3) faith as the food that will satisfy our highest human needs. If we do this, then we are seeking “food that endures for eternal life.”
