“Constant craving has always been” wrote k.d. lang in her haunting 1992 hit song.  She muses that perhaps all souls are drawn by a great magnet toward truth.  As Catholic Christians we believe that craving is our desire to be united with God, who alone can satisfy our hearts and souls.  All three readings today however, show us that part of the human condition is that we often fail to recognize our craving desire for God, and instead pursue those things and act in ways that can never satisfy us. Worse still, in our misunderstanding, in our unsatisfied hunger and unhappiness, we sometimes commit deadly sins against those who are good and peaceful. 
           
The level of rancor among the wicked in the first reading from the Book of Wisdom is shocking.  They know the presence of the Just One is an indictment of their evil. Foreshadowing Jesus’ suffering, they decide that He should suffer a shameful death, and rationalize it by saying that if He is the son of God, God will save Him.  (How would that turn out for them?!)  St. James writes in his letter how frustratingly futile and damaging to community jealousy and selfishness are.  In today’s Gospel Jesus has taken the disciples away to instruct them about His passion and resurrection. Instead of grasping what He is saying, the disciples seem to mistake what will satisfy their souls as they argue among themselves who is the greatest.  In response to their argument Jesus tells them that servant discipleship entails helping the powerless without expectation of honor or any other earthly reward.  He promises that those who serve others selflessly will be received by God. 
           
No one of is exempt, from the possibility of succumbing to destructive sinning and its outcomes when we turn from the Lord and give in to what will always fail to satisfy.  This reality is particularly and painfully poignant right now in our Church.  As you examine yourself however, do you recognize the destructive selfishness and covetousness seen in today’s readings?  Are you the aggressor or the victim of jealousy or oppression?  As victims, we can nonetheless be tempted to retaliate with the very violence that is inflicted on us, thus perpetuating a cycle of sin. 
           
Be aware that Jesus is not calling us to white-knuckled repression of our disordered desires, but to deep humility and a willingness to bring His light to every dark place.  Only then can we receive His peace.  Only then can sin in us and others be conquered.   Through prayerful reflection and conversation with the Lord we can become more aware of who we really are and for Whom we were made.  It can help us reject those false cravings that lead us in our weakness to jealousy, oppression, anger, addiction, isolation or however our brokenness appears.  It can, as k.d. lang describes it, let that Great Magnet pull our soul to what is true.