REFLECTION:

So on Wednesday night we had our School Board meeting for Maryknoll School, and one of the presenters who has been working on the school's Master Plan shared something that has stayed with me ever since. In fact, it was probably the one sentence I remember most from his entire presentation. He said, "The question we should ask is not, 'What do we not have?' The question we should ask ourselves is, 'What do we need?'"

He even added, "If you ask ten people what we don't have, you'll probably get ten different answers." And he's right. Some might say we don't have a cafeteria. Others might say we need a swimming pool, more outdoor gathering spaces, additional parking, newer classrooms, or upgraded athletic facilities. None of those are bad ideas, and many of them may one day become part of our Master Plan. But his point was that if we begin with what we don't have, we'll never run out of things to add to the list. Instead, we have to ask a more important question: What do we need? That question forces us to return to our mission and to discern what is truly essential.

As I prayed with today's reading, I couldn't help but think of that conversation. The people of Judah had spent generations believing that as long as they had Jerusalem, the Temple, the palace, the king, and the city walls, everything would be fine. Those were the things they possessed, and they slowly began to place their security in them rather than in God. But because they continually turned away from the Lord, everything they thought they needed was taken away. Jerusalem fell. The Temple was burned. The walls were torn down. The king was captured, and the people were led into exile.

From a human perspective, they had lost everything. They could have spent all their time asking, "What don't we have anymore?" We don't have our Temple. We don't have our city. We don't have our king. We don't have our freedom. But perhaps God was inviting them to ask a different question: What do we truly need?



The answer was not another Temple or stronger walls. Their deepest need was not a new palace or a new king. Their greatest need was to return to the Lord. God allowed everything else to be stripped away so that they could rediscover the one thing that mattered most: a faithful relationship with Him. Their exile became the beginning of their restoration because it brought them back to their foundation.

I think that lesson speaks not only to schools but also to our own lives. We can easily make long lists of what we don't have. I don't have enough money. I don't have enough time. I don't have the recognition I deserve. I don't have the opportunities someone else has. If you asked ten people what they don't have, you would probably get ten different answers.

But if you ask, "What do I need?" the answer becomes much simpler. I need God's grace. I need His mercy. I need His wisdom. I need His strength. I need a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

The same is true for Maryknoll School. While we continue to plan for future facilities that will better serve our students, our greatest need is not a cafeteria, a swimming pool, or more outdoor space. Those things can certainly help us fulfill our mission, but they are not our mission. What every student, every teacher, every staff member, every family, and every one of us truly needs is a right relationship with God. Buildings can support our mission, but they can never replace it.

Perhaps today the Lord is asking each of us the same question. Stop focusing on what you don't have. Instead, ask yourself: What do I truly need? When the answer leads us back to God, we discover that He has been our greatest need all along. Everything else finds its proper place when He is at the center.