May we in today's Eucharistic celebration learn that divine wisdom should be more valued than material goods. May we also learn how to detach from material goods and use them to help our needy neigbours.
DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(Wisdom 7,7-11; Heb 4, 12-13; Mark We 10, 17-30: 28th Sunday of Year B, October 10, 2021)
Today the liturgy offers us the theme of wealth and God's call. The first reading tells us that wisdom is more precious than wealth. The Gospel shows us a rich young man, who hears the call of Jesus, but does not have the courage to welcome it, because he is attached to his riches. The second reading gives us the word of God, which is alive, effective and cutting edge.
The author of the Letter to the Hebrews says that the word of God is alive, effective and sharper than any double-edged sword. It is not like the human word devoid of strength, but it is full of vitality, illumination and demands. It penetrates the heart and arouses remorse in the conscience, it puts in crisis those who do not truly live in the grace of God. It is not possible to hide from it. If we welcome it, it becomes a source of life for us. If we resist it, it causes heartburn, suffering and restlessness in us. If we welcome it, it brings light into our life, it infuses us with courage and strength to progress on the path of good and love. God loves us, his word is for our good. Even when it hurts us a little, as it purifies us, it must be welcomed by us, because it is truly the means chosen by God to transmit his graces to us.
The Gospel presents to us a young man who seems animated by good intentions: he wants to know what he must do to have eternal life. Jesus shows him the ordinary way: to keep the commandments. The young man says: All these things [Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor father and mother ...] I have observed since my youth. This response arouses the sympathy/affection of Jesus, who gazes at the young man with love. And out of love he asks him something difficult: You lack only one thing: go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor [the young man misses this very thing: detachment] and you will have a treasure in heaven; then come and follow me. Whoever wants to follow Jesus must be ready to leave everything. Indeed, Jesus proceeds on his path with great resolve, and whoever finds himself under the weight of too many things cannot follow him. Jesus invites detachment, renunciation and generosity. He says to the young man: Sell what you have and give it to the poor. After listening to these words of Jesus, the young man goes away sad. Instead of accepting the invitation of Jesus, which is an expression of his love for him and which is the condition for having a very great joy, he goes away afflicted, because he has many goods. This young man is attached to his possessions and does not accept divine wisdom, which, as the first reading says, is more precious than gold and silver: All gold in comparison with it is a little sand, and like mud will be valued in front of it the silver. Divine wisdom, which seems folly in the eyes of men, consists in renouncing goods to live fully in love, in renouncing material things in order to have a treasure in heaven, which is of a very different order from the earthly one, but which only can fill a man's heart. Material things cannot fill the heart of man, or rather, they fill it, but without giving it joy. Instead, it is necessary to be detached from material goods, it is necessary to place things in their right place: spiritual things must take precedence, and material things come after. Jesus then makes this statement: How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! The disciples are amazed, because the Old Testament speaks of riches in a very positive way: they are promised to those who follow the law of the Lord. Therefore, the disciples do not understand how riches, which are a gift from God, can make it difficult to enter the kingdom of God.
But Jesus insists: Little children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God ». This comparison expresses a total impossibility: for a camel it is impossible to go through the eye of a needle. Jesus says it is still more difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. To enter the kingdom of God, in fact, it is necessary to have a free heart. If the heart is full of attachments to material things, there is no room in it for love, for generosity. The rich who are attached to their possessions are always looking for more. Poor people, on the other hand, are satisfied with little. The rich always want to have more, precisely because material goods do not satisfy their hearts. We humans are not meant to be attached to money. Money must be the servant to us, not the master. For this we must free our heart from its attachment to money and wealth. We must have the courage to recognize the things that are truly essential in our life: our loving relationship with God and our loving relationship with brothers and sisters. We have to free ourselves from our selfishness, from our material attachments. Only thus, will we be able to enter the kingdom of God. But Jesus also states that God can allow a rich man to detach himself from his riches to enter the kingdom of God. Indeed, there are rich people who are not attached to money and who use it generously to help others. All this is the work of God's grace. Peter says to Jesus: Behold, we have left everything and followed you. Jesus replies that whoever has left home or brothers or sisters or other things because of him and the Gospel (along with persecutions) will already receive a hundredfold in the present and in the future eternal life. It is clear that if we follow Jesus generously, renouncing material goods and even family affections, we receive much more. This, however, does not mean that we become owners of those things that Providence makes available to us. We cannot expect those things; we must receive them as they are given to us, as a gift, and always maintaining an attitude of detachment. We actually receive, even a hundred times more, but we do not own it. In fact, God shows himself generous in an extraordinary way with all the people who put themselves at the service of his love for him, at the service of their brothers and sisters to foster the growth of his kingdom. So, what is really important to us is knowing what we live for. If we live to accumulate money, we will never be satisfied, we will always lack something essential in the heart. If, on the other hand, we live to generously welcome God's love, with an attitude of detachment from all other things, to place ourselves at the service of this love and at the service of our brothers and sisters, each according to their own vocation, then divine joy fills our heart. Then we will live fully. There is a fullness of life that is granted only to those who have the courage to detach themselves from things and to truly live-in love.
We ask the Lord for the grace to make us progress in this direction. Each day we should take a step forward in detachment from material things, in attachment to the Lord, and in the service of our brothers and sisters.+John I. Okoye
(graphics by chukwubike)
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