Sunday Readings
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow Me. (Mk 10:21)
“There is harm not only in trying to gain wealth but also in excessive concern with even the most necessary things. It is not enough to despise wealth, but you must also feed the poor and, more importantly, you must follow Christ”.
– St. John Chrysostom
My Dearest Friends in Christ,
May Eternal Wisdom, whose words we treasure more than gold, bring transformation and eternal life to us and save us from being consumed by material wealth.
The readings of today remind us that no possession is more priceless than possessing Eternal Life through detachment from material wealth. Our wealth and riches are only meaningful when they are put to the service of God through sharing with the poor.
Refusing to surrender what we have is tantamount to rejecting to follow Christ. In reality, wealth and riches could possess us, subjecting us, as prisoners of our possessions. God is warning us today about the dangers of materialism.
God created man and woman and endowed them with everything they need for a meaningful life. God empowered them giving them dominion over everything He created. Hence, man is created to rule over God’s creation and not to be a slave of possessions. When the first man and woman disobeyed God, life became difficult and suffering came upon humanity. The only means of survival was labor but God’s love never departed from humanity. God continually provides for humanity and man cannot, without offending God, arrogate his achievements as products of his own labors unaided by Divine Grace.
From the Stone Age to the Jet Age, (from ancient to contemporary time) men and women have transformed the face of the earth through their achievements and inventions. Life in modern times seems more easy and luxurious. The innovation around the Internet of Things (IoT devices) and automation, has further made life more luxurious and less laborious than in the past.
In the face of all these modern tech innovations, and the consumerist spirit of this age, men and women seem to be much more withdrawn from God. Secularists will say, man has conquered the world. God has no place in it anymore. The increasing sophistication of modern life with its attendant luxuriousness has doubled the spirit of possessiveness in the hearts of men and women. People are struggling today working around the clock, no longer to satisfy the necessary human needs but to maintain a high standard of living they’ve opted for themselves. The quest for money and material things is endangering the human species. Men and women are insatiably in pursuit of possessions and have no time for others because they have activities, debts, bills, and what have you to do. Things have taken up the place of persons in the heart of men and women. We shall be doomed in this endless pursuit if we lose focus of our eternal destination.
The first reading from the Book of Wisdom, advises us to use the God-given virtue of prudence and to seek True Wisdom in preference to vanishing realities like riches or political and social influence. Solomon chose Wisdom before everything else. Yet when he accepted Wisdom, he received everything else along with her. Since Jesus is Wisdom Incarnate, when we place following Jesus ahead of everything else, we receive everything else along with Jesus.
The second reading warns us that we are accountable before God as to how we use our blessings and that the “living and effective Word of God” must be our guide in evaluating the use of our blessings.
In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us what it takes to be a righteous person. Holiness does not consist in keeping all the commandments or avoiding sin but in doing something good for others. Many would say that Jesus made an unfair or impossible demand from the wealthy young man. My question, though, is: What is the difference between what God asked Abraham to do with his son and what God asked the rich man to do with his wealth? In Abraham, we saw a man who was detached from persons and possessions. In the rich man, we saw a man who was attached to his possessions. Abraham proved to God he was ready to give up his son but the rich man frowned and went away because he was not willing to let go of his riches. Abraham was willing to let go of a “person”, but the rich man was unwilling to let of go “a thing”. Many value things more than persons. They can pay deaf ears to the cries of the poor or the beggar on the street just to save money to maintain their luxurious lifestyle. Isn’t that sinful to ignore the cries of the poor? The greatest problem is not in having but in letting go. Detachment from material possessions is a necessary condition for being a true follower of Christ.
In our present-day society, wealth defines social status and people would do anything, even at the expense of the good of others, just to be in the rank and file of the rich or to maintain their class. It is reasonable to assume that part of the fears of this rich young man who came to Jesus was the fear of becoming a poor and second-class citizen if he were to give away everything as the Master requested. However, he failed to see what Providence had in store for him.
Not only that many are possessed by possessions today, but many have decided to remain possessed. This is to their detriment. There is so much hunger and poverty in the world today because many have accumulated for their own future what others need to survive on today.
Being rich is no evil. Wealth is good. God does not condemn riches but condemns our love for them. In a world where wealth is worshipped as a god men have lost their souls to the devil who lures them. “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (cf. 1 Timothy 6:17-19). I hope we have not forgotten the Parable of the rich fool in Luke 12:16-21.
Jesus was so generous that He gave us His Very Self. Hence, there should be a desire to give, in the heart of every Christian. God doesn’t ask us to give up our riches, but he does ask us to use them wisely in the service of the poor. We must manage our possessions wisely so that they do not gain control over our hearts. God gives us riches that we may use them in the service of others.
We all have something in our lives that acts as a major obstacle to our happiness and peace. It may be anger, holding grudges, alcohol, drugs, lust, apathy, lies, unfaithfulness, theft, or fraud. Let us invite God into our lives to remove that obstacle to our holiness.
May God help us to value the sharing of our possessions with others and use earthly goods wisely to acquire heavenly possessions.
I keep you and your family always in my prayers. Keep saying the Rosary in this October devotion.
